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Chapter Text

A smiling golden bear overhung a small restaurant of Hurricane, above a sign on which could be read "Fredbear's Family Diner". It was waving mechanically to the few people waiting in line in front of the big red wooden doors. 

The inauguration announcement had been published in the local newspapers the day before, and the phone didn't stop ringing since to book the not-so-many tables available. The first pizzeria with living moving robots, able to animate a show like humans could! This was a first in the country. Everyone wanted to see this with their own eyes.

There was something the curious people waiting outside didn't know, however. Inside the small building, two men were running all over the place, more and more nervous as the opening time was getting closer. From time to time, one passed with a pile of chairs above the head, crossing the second one, the hands full of empty boxes for pizzas.  They were late, and didn't expect their family restaurant to greet so many people for the first day. Their last-minute panic was the result of three long years of paperwork, sweat and metal gears that couldn't fail to work if they wanted the restaurant to survive more than a few weeks. 

"Henry!" screamed the first one from a corridor. "Have you seen Fredbear's bowtie?"

"It was in the backstage! No, wait! You left it in the kitchen when you fixed the coffee machine!" He corrected himself.

The so-called Henry Emily dived into the dining room, two new chairs above the head. Despite his vigorous thirty years old, the effort made him sweat profusely under his bright new pink shirt. He quickly installed the chairs around one of the tables, and grimaced when his brown hair stayed stuck in one of them. 

On the other side of the black and white checked pattern floor, William Afton was standing in a fragile balance on the edge of the main stage, the huge fuschia bow tie of the show's star in the hands: Fredbear. It was an eight-foot-tall golden robot bear, with a bit of a belly. His conceptor wanted it to be friendly enough so children wouldn't be scared of it. Robotics genius, William built it by hand, nut and bolt after nut and bolt, until it worked perfectly and its artificial intelligence became developed enough to perform a show all by itself. Fredbear could sing, dance, answer basic questions and, his creator's masterpiece, walk freely in the pizzeria. William didn't reveal that ability yet; he hoped it would surprise enough people to boost word of mouth and bring new customers. 

Despite being quite tall himself, William struggled to hang the bow tie to the neck of his precious creation. Once done, he jumped out of the stage and stared at the rest of the room, smiling. Party hats covered every plastic plate, small gifts were ready on every chair… A dream became true for him. A sort of revenge on his old teachers who didn't believe in his project. "When you are so talented, you use your skills to make the world better, William. You don't open a pizzeria. You need to grow up.", one of them said the day he graduated. And yet, here he was, a few minutes before the opening. 

The only one who believed in his was standing at the other end of the room with large sweat aureoles under the arms, in his flashy pink shirt. He almost forgot that detail. To celebrate, Henry insisted they both wear colorful brand new shirts, a pink and a purple one. Their name had been embroidered on their chest. William inherited the purple one. He hated the color. It contrasted too much with his very pale skin. Genetic legacy: all Afton looked like corpses, very skinny and very pale. No one in his family escaped it, him included. 

William stared at the plate a little too much, nervous.

"You're sure no one will notice, right?" He asked for at least the tenth time in two hours.

"We talked about this. Stop working yourself. They will all focus on Fredbear. They won't notice it."

"It" referred to the fifty or so frozen pizzas the two owners bought in catastrophe the day before. Thinking too much about the robot led them to forget one very important point: a pizzeria without pizzas on day one was not a good marketing choice. They didn't manage to raise enough money to have a functional kitchen for the opening, so they improvised. If Henry felt no remorse about it, William saw things otherwise, terrified a health inspector would show up as soon they opened the doors to scream at them. 

He took a deep breath. If he showed nothing, he would be fine. 

Henry questioned him silently, William nodded. He walked to the metallic casing on the wall. He played with a few buttons. Immediately, the curtains of the stage opened wide, music played in the speakers in the corners and Fredbear started to dance and sing. 

Henry opened the doors and the first enthusiast customers took their first steps into their brand-new Fazbear's Family Diner. 

Two children outdistanced the crowd and ran straight to William, who kneeled, arms opened to catch them, laughing. Elizabeth, a cute seven-year-old gingerhead girl, quickly abandoned her father to run in front of the stage, where several amazed kids were already watching Fredbear. Of the three children of the Afton family, she always showed the most interest in William's robots. William had great hopes she would pursue his work one of these days.

George, his youngest boy, kept griping his father's leg, more wary. At four years old, that big bear and all its teeth was quite scary. William ruffed his hair to comfort him, then picked him up to put him on his shoulders. George immediately hugged his head, satisfied. 

One more pair of arms circled his waist. William contorted himself with difficulty to offer his lips to his wife, Maggie, who just joined him with their older son, Michael, ten years old, who didn't even greet him before going to sit at a random table, pouting. William raised an interrogative eyebrow to the love of his life.

"He wanted to take the dog and I said no." She explained, weary, landing the hands to pick up George back.

"Again? Mike, you know what we said. No dog during shifts." William argued.

Michael rolled his eyes at him and walked away to a table closer to the stage. Elizabeth ran to him and climbed on his lap to have a better view of Fredbear, excited.

"He's not even a teenager yet." Maggie mocked. "Better luck next time."

William growled, before kissing her blond hair. This issue would have to wait, he needed to go back to the kitchen, where Henry already put himself to work. William picked a few pizza boxes to give it to him, before freezing when his eyes fell on an empty beer can on the counter. 

He sighed, angry.

"Henry, you promised you wouldn't drink during the shift."

"Oh, come on. It's only one, it can't hurt anyone." He justified himself, his already red nose making William doubt his words. 

Frustrated, he let his colleague in the kitchen and went into the dining room. Henry had trouble with alcohol since he met him, three years sooner. William hoped finding a job would help him stop that bad habit, but he was wrong. Henry needed medical help at this point, but who was he to force him to heal? 

He forced a smile before starting to serve the pizzas. A few children ran to him, excited, jumping to grab a box, forcing the owner to turn on himself a few times to unhook all their insisting little hands from his pants and shirt. 

"There will be enough for everyone. Please return to your parents and wait at your table, thank you!"

He put a few more boxes on a table and opened them. A few parents stared in disbelief, half-dumbstruck, half-angry about how the pizzas looked. Thankfully however, none of them commented on it to his relief. 

William was about to return to the kitchen when he remembered an important detail. Next to the stage, an isolated big music box played a nice entertaining tune. William walked to it and opened the hidden drawer on its side: four watching bracelets out of ten disappeared, which was good news. It meant people trusted enough their security system to try it. Like Fredbear, the security system was a robot, named the Marionette. It was wandering around between the tables, its main function being the watch of small children, while their parents had fun or ate some pizza. 

William was not a big fan of the Marionnette's design, a sort of gigantic black doll with white stripes to its arms and legs. Its frozen smile and empty eyes bothered him, unlike the children who were laughing and playing around it, asking for its attention. 

William smiled and joined the kitchen again. He had the unpleasant surprise to not finding Henry in it anymore. Worried, he opened the backdoor to check if he was near the bins outside, but nothing seemed to move there. He grinned his teeth when he noticed, well hidden under some empty pizza boxes, five more cans of beers he probably drunk before "the only one" William noticed earlier. It was concerning. Leaving him alone outside with a high blood alcohol level bothered him, but what else could he do? He couldn't just leave the restaurant now!

He sighed and put more pizzas in the oven. He promised himself to be more careful about this next time.

Focused, he didn't notice, in the dining room, the sudden panic of the Marionette, banging into the window, again and again, unable to reach the bipping bracelet outside of the restaurant. 

********

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Henry growled menacingly at a six-year-old girl with long black hair, busted. "I told you I didn't want to see you near my workplace! What will people think?"

With a trembling finger, she pointed to the dining area, on the other side of the window.

"I… I was hungry and you… You didn't come back… A lady invited me in… She said I could stay and eat pizza, I said my dad worked here… But then I saw you and I… I went outside and the door locked on me. I c… I can't go in again. Can you open t… The door? Please, Dad?"

Everything in her voice betrayed her fear. She knew what was about to happen because it happened again and again at home, every time her father emptied a lot of alcohol bottles. Since her mom died, he changed. He scared her. 

The man limped her way, threatening, a can of beer in hand. The little girl gulped.

"You went out and the doors locked?" He repeated, mimicking her voice with bad intent. "I told you to stay home, Charlie! That's the only thing I asked you! I don't want my associate to see you there! You tried to escape, Charlie, that's what you did! You think you can leave the house like that? I'm your father! I'll make you obey little pest!"

"N-no! Please… I'm sorry! I didn't want to! Please, Dad, I'm sorry!" She begged, whining, trying to back away.

She shivered when her back met the wall. She had no escape. Terrified, she tried to hide her face with her arms, instinctively. It wouldn't protect her for very long, but it always hurt more when he hit her in the face, and then the school teachers would ask embarrassing questions again. Henry raised his fist and charged. Luckily, alcohol deviated the hit and his hand hit the wall instead. It made him even more upset. 

The little girl took advantage of his pain to run towards the restaurant. Inside, he wouldn't dare to hurt her. She reached the door, but it was still locked. She banged on the window and pulled the handle with all she had, in vain.

A brutal hand crushed her shoulder and pulled her away from the entrance. Henry threw the girl on the floor at full force, angry. She wasn't fast enough to slow down the fall. Henry barely heard the sound of her neck breaking on the sidewalk, unfortunately on the way.

One second she was there, the next, she was dead.

Eyes bulging with the shock of a sudden death she didn't see coming, the little girl didn't move anymore. Henry thought she was tricking him and grabbed her by the collar to put her back on her feet. He shook her violently, but she fell right back on the floor without a sound.

His heart missed a beat when the adrenaline brutally warned him he committed an irredeemable act. 

"Oh… Oh no… No, no, no, no!" He panicked. "Charlie! Charlie? Wake up! Wake up, baby, I love you, I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please, wake up! Wake up, alright? I will stop, I promise. I'll stop drinking now. Please, I'm sorry…"

He picked the girl in his arms and hugged her against his chest, crying with despair. He tried to wake her up again, but she wouldn't obey, completely limp.

The door of the restaurant opened. Panicked, Henry let go of the body and hid behind a bin. Here, in the light, the Marionnette turned the head in their direction. She got out of the restaurant, under the rain, proving William's security system was far from perfect. The robot buzzed because of the water, then fell to its knees. It still crawled towards Charlie's body. The Marionette touched Charlie's little safety bracelet. A flash of light briefly lightened the street, then the robot collapsed, one hand on the bracelet, the other hugging Charlie's body. 

Henry got out of his hidden place. He couldn't let the body here. He lost so much already, he couldn't go to prison for this. He wouldn't bear it. But where could he hide Charlie? He needed a place where no one would ever find her. A place no one would ever think to look in.

His eyes stopped on Fredbear, on the other side of the window. William could find the body, it was his robot after all. But by the time he would find it, he would already be far away. It seemed like a plan. He would need to wait the night. He sat against the wall, tired. 

What would happen to him now?

He didn't know, but he hoped that, if the body was ever found, William would fall before he did.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Blood tears

The night ended way too soon for a very tired William. Henry's disappearance in the middle of the opening ceremony complicated everything, and he even had to ask Maggie to help him deliver pizzas to the many customers getting more and more impatient as he was taking too long to serve them. 

The diner worked beyond his expectations, and he hoped it would be the same for its official opening in two days. The charming operation was not over, however. Today, the restaurant welcomed the press. A lot of journalists and reporters wanted to interview him during service the day before, so William invited them the next day to visit, answer their questions, and offer them a small show from Fredbear to make sure they would eat out of his hand and bring a lot of curious people to the diner. He aimed for national television.

For his trial run, Fredbear did pretty well. It was encouraging. Despite the small overheating at the end of the shift that modulated his voice box a little, the robot performed all night long without major problems. A night of rest should have fixed the problem, but William wanted to check it after the journalists' visit, just to be sure. 

A movement on his right made him lift his head. Cuddling tightly next to him, his wife was still sleeping peacefully. On the other side, George and Elizabeth were hugging each other, nestling against his right arm. His family had to return to Colorado at the end of the day, which saddened him a lot. For now, crammed into the motel room William rented, the roboticist made the most of this small family meeting. Only Michael refused to sleep with them. Lying on the couch, he was snoring, an arm on the floor. It was not like there were more places in bed anyway.

William sat up and cautiously extricated himself out of the blanket. George shifted slightly but quickly appended himself to his mother a few seconds later. Soft, William stared at him for a few seconds before walking to the bathroom. 

He jumped meeting his own reflection in the mirror. He looked terrible. His eyes were still red and huge dark rings fell under his eyes. He tried to wash away the fatigue with water, without a lot of success, before taking a quick shower. He put back on his purple shirt, as he forgot the rest of his clothes inside the restaurant the day before, too busy to bring his suitcase to the motel. 

Surprisingly, he found that hideous shirt suited him quite well after all. After all, it brought him some luck during the opening ceremony.

When he got out of the bathroom, his wife was stretching in the bed. William kissed her lovingly.

"I have to go." he whispers to avoid waking up the children. "Meet me for lunch at the pizzeria. Love you."

She waved him goodbye as he quickly exited the room. 

The motel was right in front of the pizzeria, conveniently. The building's location wasn't that good, lost between the desert and a few old people's apartment blocks circling it like in a vice, but it was cheap.

He grimaced when he noticed the big windows were already covered with dust on the outside, and with dirty children's fingerprints on the inside. He would have to get used to that. He opened the door and made his way into the main hall, leading straight to the cash register. It was so big it could barely stand on the counter, William almost made it fall twice the day before, but it would do for now. Since it was the biggest investment with the robots, the rest of the furniture came from discount shops. He renovated it to make it look new. More or less. Two chairs broke already. 

The main entrance led to two places: the dining room on his right, where Fredbear's eyes were shining bright blue in the distance, and the backstage on his left, where Henry's and his own office were, and a few storage rooms. William pushed the door leading to them, passing by an empty room that would soon be turned into a security office. 

He stopped in front of Henry's office and knocked twice, not believing one second he was in there, then opened the door, confirming he had not returned. All lights were off, no sign of life. He sighed, disappointed, before entering his own office, where a huge pile of papers was waiting for him. There was something to suit all tastes: tax returns, grant requests, certifications his robots were not dangerous, … He would have fun filling everything for quite a while, but not now. 

Instead, he opened a hidden door behind his desk chair, his "laboratory" as he liked to call it.

In a small cave, three endoskeletons were standing proudly in the middle of the room. The first one, a golden rabbit, was his task of the day. He wanted to dazzle the press, what could possibly be better than a second unexpected robot on the stage? William nicknamed it Spring Bonnie, because of that feature he didn't have time to test yet: the springlocks. When William pushed a few buttons, the metal endoskeleton retracted so a man could wear the skin of the robot like a costume. The metal parts were held back by small metal hooks, so the endoskeleton didn't accidentally reform while a performer was in and impale them alive… Which was the main issue William had for weeks now, but people didn't need to know that. Good thing he only needed the robot for his little show. 

Spring Bonnie was quite special for him, it was the first Animatronic he designed, almost fifteen years ago. The rabbit could sing and dance, reproducing songs on his guitar, more than thirty, which was way more than any music disk out there.

Next to the rabbit, two incomplete robots were waiting their time patiently: Spring Freddy, which Henry preferred to call Golden Freddy, a better version of Fredbear with spring locks that would replace it in a few months, and Foxy, a fox pirate he had fun working on these last nights. That was months he was trying to obtain the authorization to create official Animatronics derived from a cartoon show, Freddy & Friends. He always loved that show younger, like many, and wanted to create his own band in real life. Fredbear and Springbonnie were heavily inspired by them, he wanted now to bring to life the real stars of the show: Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. This was the main reason Golden Freddy and Foxy were still patiently waiting backstage. He couldn't really show them to anyone for now. He couldn't show Spring Bonnie either, now that he was thinking about it, but… Oh well, he was ready to take the risk. He looked different enough from the Bonnie from the show.

He had other plans in case he never managed to reach his goal. The walls of his rooms were covered with blueprints he imagined. Like this idea of a little robotic clown girl, he made for Elizabeth. She always asked him to create a robot for her. Maybe he would, someday.

Cautiously, he switched on Spring Bonnie's Animatronic. The rabbit blinked a few times before standing straight. After a few seconds, it started to wave mechanically to an invisible crowd like it was supposed to. William grabbed its command controller, and, steps by steps, guided him toward the exit of the room. The robot obeyed, which still impressed his creator, even after so many times. The rabbit was taller than Fredbear, and thinner, which made him look quite impressive while walking. 

William led the robot to the dining room, then made him climb very slowly the three big steps of the stage. He positioned Spring Bonnie next to Fredbear, finally ready for the show.

The roboticist looked at the big clock on the wall. He was just in time! The press would be there in an instant. He got frustrated he didn't have more time to check on Fredbear, but this would have to do. 

He quickly joined his office to change his shirt for a cleaner one, then opened the doors to the dozen journalists patiently waiting in front of the building. He anxiously welcomed them inside and waited as they all installed their equipment. 

Several of them noticed Henry's absence. William avoided the subject, pretexting he had the flu so they stopped asking questions. It was hard to hide how worried he was about his disappearance, he felt guilty he didn't notice him going out, probably hardly drunk. He hoped he didn't put himself in danger, or worse, get arrested by the police. That would not be good for the business's reputation.

William shook his thoughts about Henry aside and hopped on the stage, right between the two robots. He forced a smile and started his little speech with the little confidence he could pretend he had. 

"Welcome to Fredbear's Family Diner, a new-generation pizzeria where fantasy comes to life and hopes never die! I am William Afton, the main engineer of the Animatronics, and the manager of the place. But enough about me, I know why you are all here, and it's for my two beautiful Animatronics prototypes: Fredbear, which you all met yesterday." He said, pointing at the bear. "And Spring Bonnie, who makes his big premiere in front of your own eyes and will be available on stage for the real opening, in a few days."

William waited a few seconds, as some journalists took notes. So far, so good. He walked to Spring Bonnie and pulled the rabbit's bow tie, revealing its mechanical spine and several complex buttons beeping here and there. The cameras flashed for a few seconds, blinding him.

"The robots had been conceived entirely on a metal endoskeleton, hidden under the suit, to which an artificial intelligence got implemented to give them some freedom of movement, and more credible interactions with the children." William continued, pointing at several pieces. 

A hand raises in the crowd. William nodded to the journalist.

"Can you make them work?"

"Impatient, I see. Sure! Let me show you."

He jumped off the stage and walked towards a big box tied to the wall. He opened it, then pushed a few buttons and levers. Both Animatronics immediately started to sing together a kid's song, which Spring Bonnie reproduced on his guitar at the same time. 

However, William quickly frowned.

Something was wrong with Fredbear. 

The bear was moving normally, but something seemed to block its movement when he turned to look at Spring Bonnie, which desynchronized the song and broke the magic of their performance. He let them sing a few more seconds, then quickly turned them off, trying to stay as neutral as he could.

He expected a flood of questions, but the crowd stayed surprisingly silent, stupefied, staring at the stage. William followed their gaze. Red tears were leaking on Fredbear's face. The liquid flowed from his legs parts as well, slowly spreading on the floor.

Several journalists looked his way, worried. In shock, William opened and closed his mouth a few times, speechless. 

What was even that?!

"Is that… Blood?" A woman finally dared to ask.

The word disturbed William, who quickly snapped out of it. He jumped back on the stage and put himself in front of Fredbear, to mask the leak.

"No… Of course not!" He answered hesitantly. "It must be some rust, that's all. Some pieces we used for the robots are old. Our robots are still prototypes, but I assure you they will be ready Monday for the true opening, don't worry!"

No one looked convinced. The growing puddle under the bear was too suspicious to not be doubted. 

Nervous, William cut short the meeting and awkwardly pushed the journalists out of his building after a few technical questions he barely managed to answer. He immediately locked the door behind them, and closed the curtains of the dining room, before running to the stage.

He pulled Fredbear's bow tie to open the robot's stomach, but it resisted. William palpated the costume, soon realizing it had been forced close, and quite deformed with that. The roboticist quickly went back to his office to grab a crowbar. After a few minutes of struggle, he finally managed to open it, not imagining one second what he would find inside.

The tool fell from his hands as his brain tried to register what his eyes were seeing.

Curled up inside the bear's stomach was a small brown girl, lacerated by the endoskeleton during the show to the point some part of her body seemed to have merged with it. 

Legs shaking, William jumped off the stage, backing away as much as he could from the morbid scene. 

What was he even supposed to do? Warn the police? So soon after they just opened? The corpse would kill his dream before it even had a chance to be true. He would end up in prison, his projects banished forever. He couldn't lose this job. He couldn't. His family was counting on him. He couldn't let his kids grow up with him in prison! Added to that, he put thousands of dollars into this project, his family would be ruined, all because of him.

He fell to his knees, a loud sob escaping his throat. He couldn't tell the police! But then what? He walked to the window and opened the curtain slightly. The journalists were still there, talking together. They seemed to debate. He had to be quick. If they called the police, it was over.

He ran to his workshop like the Devil was chasing him. He wasn't controlling anything anymore. His brain was disconnected. He was acting like an automaton. He grabbed the big tarpaulin that covered Spring Bonnie previously, plastic gloves, and ran back to the dining room. He put his improvised mortuary bag on the floor and, determined, pulled one of the child's arms.

The corpse fell in his arms. He let go of it quickly, unable to hold the distressed scream that escaped his throat. One only dead green eye was judging him. The rest of her face got crushed to the point no one could identify the body. He horrified himself thinking it was probably a good thing. His hand shook, as he tried to take out the pieces that stayed stuck inside the robot. Once most of it was out, he closed the bag, making sure it was not looking like a body, but more like a weird trash bag. He dragged the bag towards the entrance, before realizing he couldn't go out like this.

"Alright, William." He whispered to himself. "Don't panic."

He turned around and pulled the body to the back door, in the kitchen. He slowly opened the door. He was behind the restaurant, no one would see him there. He checked the clock. The garbage truck was supposed to pass in a few minutes. Determined, he dragged the body to the nearest garbage can. He took out several trash bags, threw the black tarpaulin in, then put the bags back above it. He hoped it would work. If he was lucky, no one would ever know it. Or if they did, it would be impossible to suspect him.

Right?

He threw the plastic gloves in the bin before he turned around to go back inside. Something caught his eye, lying on the floor. 

The Marionette. 

How did it even get there? He didn't notice it was gone. Carefully, he picked up his robot and brought it back inside, hoping the rain didn't damage it too much. He sat it against the fridge. It was not an emergency for now. 

He returned to Fredbear. The inside of the robot was still dirty because of all the blood. William returned to his office and grabbed cleaning supplies. For three hours, he did his best to erase all traces of what happened. He cleaned every mechanical piece, changed the costume parts he couldn't save, and moped the floor until it looked as new as the rest. 

Once the robot and the floor were cleaned, he made sure the trash can was empty, which it was. The corpse was gone. Forever, he hoped. He felt terrible for the girl, but… He didn't even think one second of their parents. Would they search? Would they think of coming here? How did the girl even end there? He had so many questions and so few answers. He was so tired.

He still found time to put back the Marionnette inside its box. One of the watching bracelets was missing, which annoyed him, but compared to what he went through today, he really didn't care.

Pale, he decided to leave the pizzeria for today. He could pretext he was feeling a bit sick so his wife didn't worry. Tomorrow, all of this would be behind him, and things would go back to normal. Or at least, he hoped so.

It was all just a nightmare.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Guilt

William pushed the motel door with hesitation. His hands were still shaking badly. Despite everything, he did his best to keep a neutral expression.

Elizabeth immediately dropped the book she was reading to her little brother to jump in his arms. She missed her aim, but still hugged his legs, happy. This affectionate gesture helped the roboticist to relax slightly. Maybe that day wouldn’t be that terrible after all.

Or not.

He looked up to his wife. She was staring at him, squinting. Maggie always read him so easily, like in a mirror. It took only a few seconds for her to notice something was wrong.

Quickly, William fled her eyes. He searched for a distraction, like… Michael. His boy was still pouting in a corner and put back his clothes in his suitcase in silence. William opened the mouth, but his kid growled before he could say anything. Communication between father and son had been complicated since George’s birth. Their family therapist said Michael saw his brother’s arrival as some sort of rivalry. The teenager tried by any means to show them how angry he was, scaring even his own parents sometimes. They were not the only ones he scared: George was terrified of his older brother as well, to the point it seemed now impossible to let them alone together in a room. Elizabeth had a central role in their little group, as she was the only link between the brothers, trying desperately to make them get along. William hoped things would change as both Michael and George grew up, but he couldn’t help but feel it could as well turn even worse.

The little girl let go of William’s pants and went back to her initial position, next to George. The small boy shyly smiled to his father, before Elizabeth captivated him again with her story. 

William put his stuff in a corner, and kissed Maggie as a hello.

“Are you alright?” She whispered, her hands brushing his cheek. “You look pale. Are you sick?”

William shook it off, restless. “I’m fine. Just some problems at work.”

“Henry didn’t come back, did he?”

“He didn’t, no.”

William sighed. Henry’s disappearance coincided weirdly with the appearance of a body in his restaurant. Blinded by the alcohol, could he have committed murder? The idea didn’t even cross his mind in the building, but now, the doubt made him shiver. But… This story was over now. He needed to stop thinking about this. He did what he had to. He needed to move on. If he kept acting like nothing happened, no one would ever suspect anything.

“At what time is your train?” He asked Maggie, changing the subject.

“In an hour and a half. We’re going to eat in that small restaurant in front of the train station. Are you coming along?”

“Chips and burgers! Lots of burgers!” George screamed, enthusiastic. 

William nodded to accept and the little family walked out a few minutes later. Lunch helped William to relax after that very bad start to the day. The following separation however was harder to digest, even if it was only temporary. He stayed a long time on the platform, watching the train disappear on the horizon. Soon, he would find a house nearby to keep his family by his side. He promised it. A few months of hard work should be enough to pay the rent.

The motel room looked even more insalubrious once he found himself all alone inside. The silence was the worst. When everything is silent, it is easier to remember things he didn’t want to. He tried to keep busy for a few hours, reading and watching television, but eventually, he got tired. A shower, and he hopped right back into bed, trying to sleep.

The night ended being short and agitated. He couldn’t sleep well, and the rare few times he managed to close his eyes, the face of that scared little girl, frozen in death, came to haunt him. When it was not her, it was Henry. He was in all his nightmares, smiling diabolically. This was stupid. Henry was a good man. Not perfect, but he did his best. He still couldn’t believe he might be responsible for what happened. It was insane!

Around two in the morning, William gave up trying and switched on the television back again, trying to distract himself from these horrible thoughts. But, eventually, his eyes fall on the phone on the night table. He sighed. One more time couldn’t hurt, even at that hour. 

He dialed Henry’s number once again. It took no more than two seconds to be sent to voicemail. William sighed but still decided to leave a message.

“It’s William. I don’t know where you are, but things are not so good at the pizzeria. If you’re the one who… I found the body of a kid, Henry. If you killed her, I can help you, alright? We can find you a good lawyer or something, but… Come back, please. Hiding won’t help. I want to understand. You need help, Henry. You really need it. Don’t shut me down.”

He put the phone back on its base and tried to focus back on the television. It showed a weird cartoon about a vampire disowning his son despite a lady claiming it was his child because the kid obviously looked like a vampire. It looked so stupid. How could any father reject their child to this point? 

He suddenly sat up in bed, realizing he missed a very important thing. More than a day had passed now and still no one reported the child’s disappearance. To whom belonged the child? He threw the body out without thinking one second she could have family looking for her. If she was part of the customers the day before, the pizzeria would be the first place police would search. He made sure to clean Fredbear the best he could, but what if it wasn’t enough?

He couldn’t close his eyes for the rest of the night after that. Only his alarm clock made him jump at six, reminding him it was already the morning. He took a quick shower, put on some clothes, and ran out to the pizzeria on the other side of the road. 

He grabbed a bucket, gloves and completely panicked, mopped the floor clean one more time, then Fredbear like it was a life or death emergency. He then checked for any traces of blood in the whole pizzeria. Still frantic, he cleaned the kitchen, the Marionette and the whole dining room, just to be sure. 

Exhausted at noon, he still found the energy to run a few tests on Fredbear. The bear didn’t look damaged after the incident. His mechanical pelvis creaked strangely from time to time, but with the music on, no one would notice anything. He inspected Spring Bonnie as well, but the rabbit seemed in perfect condition.

Relieved, he finally authorized himself to relax with a frozen pizza. He slouched on one of the chairs in the dining room and ate silently, watching the Animatronics dance and sing just for him. That small moment out of the world helped him to fully calm down. He lost all sense of time, contemplating his creations. They were real, more than his anxiety. Everything would be fine now, or at least, he tried to convince himself it would.

Well, until three firm knocks banged against the entrance door.

William jumped, realizing he almost fell asleep in front of the robots. He walked to the main window and looked between the curtains. Blue and red lights flashed in front of the building. His heart missed a beat.

“Oh no. No, no, no…” He whispered, pacing in front of the main scene, more and more distressed.

The police officer behind the door knocked again, insisting. William took a deep breath. Pretending he wasn’t there wouldn’t help his case. He arranged his hair and replaced his black tie correctly, before walking to the door, trying to look as neutral as possible. 

He partially opened the door. The annoyed officer pushed him out of the way without hesitation. William protested, but the man didn’t care.

“Officer Clay Burke, Hurricane police. We got a call about your robots.” 

The officer didn’t wait for him and immediately walked to the dining room. William followed him nervously. He tried to say something, anything, but his mind was entirely blank. As the policeman stopped in front of Fredbear, William gathered some courage.

“I don’t know what you’re searching, officer.” He said, controlling his voice the best he could. “Our robots are perfectly safe.”

“Journalists warned us that the bear cried blood tears. Is this that one?” He asked, pointing at Fredbear.

“Yes. But it was only rust.” William defended himself. “A piece of metal melted inside its head, nothing too big.”

Officer Burke turned his way and scrutinized his face for a few seconds, squinting. William held his breath, panicking. At that moment, the man seemed to believe him, but he still was wary.

“Can you open it?”

William nodded, gulping. He walked to the command box and stopped the two robots’ performance. He then jumped on the stage and pulled Fredbear’s bowtie. The robot’s stomach opened. The police officer grabbed his flashlight and carefully inspected the inside of the bear.

“Did you clean it?”

“Of course. The rust could have damaged other pieces of the endoskeleton. I had to act quickly to avoid this.”

Clay Burke nodded. He stood up, and put the flashlight in its place. The officer seemed to relax a bit, much to William’s relief and even smiled at him.

“Hell of a machine you got there.” The man said, calmer. “I like to work on my car on the weekends, but I never saw something like this. That’s a whole other level. Impressive.”

“Thanks.” William smiled. “I worked for five years on this one.”

The officer nodded.

“Everything is in order. I won’t bother you much longer. However, we will have to keep your pizzeria closed until health and safety officers come this afternoon. If everything works fine, you can open this evening.”

William turned paler at the mention of every restaurant's worst nightmare, but still took the hand the officer leaned to him. Clay Burke saluted him with one more nod and left the pizzeria soon after. 

The roboticist couldn’t hold the sigh of relief that escaped his throat. Before standing up in realization. 

Health and safety was coming in a few hours! 

He ran to the kitchen and quickly opened the fridge. He grabbed the twenty frozen pizzas still there and threw everything in the bin outside. He then cleaned all of Henry’s alcohol bottles and made sure everything was clean: no rats, no cockroaches, no major problem with the equipment. 

Fortunately, the visit went well, despite the inspector not being a great fan of his work. “Your stage is too low, Mr. Afton”, “Does your robot stop when children go near them Mr. Afton?”, “Your outlets are dangerous, Mr. Afton”. Mr Afton this, Mr Afton that… William had to hold back to not slam one of the frozen pizzas he dumped right into his face. The inspector gave him a list of things he had to do to improve security in the pizzeria that he threw in a corner of the room and instantly forgot about. 

Exhausted after that terrible day, William decided to return to the motel soon after. It seemed he was not in immediate danger anymore. Maybe he would sleep with a mind appeased this time. Or at least try.

As he went out of the building, a young girl with brown hair almost knocked him out and ran away, laughing, chased by her apologetic father. William stared, bloodcurdling. 

He hoped it was over. He really hoped.

With shaking legs, he pushed the door to his room. Tomorrow would be another day.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Skeleton of Steel

William decided to close the restaurant two days longer. He needed time to recollect his thoughts and plan how to go from there. Now that Henry disappeared, he was all alone to manage the pizzeria, and without enough funds to hire another employee. Not before a few weeks at least. He hoped Henry was fine. He put so much energy into this project, that it hurt William to know he wouldn’t see it flourish.

Hopefully, William was wrong, and he didn’t commit the murder. It was probably naïve, he knew it, but he always believed in second chances. And anyway, the incident wouldn’t have consequences and he wanted to tell him that he was not that mad Henry completely gave up on him and let him deal with the whole thing. At least, William thought so. He struggled to reason since the discovery. 

William spent his first rest day wandering in town, looking for a house big enough to rent or buy so his family could finally move in. Several already caught his eye, but one particularly seduced him. It was situated right behind the pizzeria. Although it didn’t have a yard like he wanted, it had a huge basement that he was sure could be linked to the Fredbear’s Diner one with enough work. It would be a nice opportunity to build a bigger workshop for his animatronics to replace the one behind his office in the building. 

Even if he loved this little confined space, he would soon need some place so the future employees could put the springlock suits on safely. Their handling was too dangerous to be neglected. 

He would so need a new shelter for Foxy and the three next robots he planned to start at the end of the month: Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. He was still negotiating to have the rights to show them but had ideas in case it didn’t work as he wanted. It would be a titanic work to come, and Willam worried he wouldn’t have enough money to invest in them. The pizzeria needed to open at all costs.

He took the next day to take care of his precious metal children: maintenance, settings, technical difficulties… This was the part of the job he preferred and loved. Henry was more interested in how robotics could be used to upgrade the restaurant and its services, like with the Marionette, which he transformed into a robot nanny. William on the other hand loved entertainment. He wanted to make people happy just at the sight of his creations. 

He started his tour with the two stars of the show. He patiently polished all of Spring Bonnie's circuits and replaced its purple eyes with two vibrant green ones that he thought looked better. On the contrary, he barely touched Fredbear. He ran it for a test show, made it walk around the dining room, and put it back in its place. Since William found the corpse inside, he was very reluctant to open the robot again, fearing the nightmare could start again.

Once assured everything walked well, he hopped to his workshop like a kid excited to play with his new toys. He carefully pushed Golden Freddy into a corner of the room and dragged his last masterpiece to the center of the room: Foxy the Pirate. Well, for now, it didn’t exactly look like the pirate he was supposed to be. Foxy was only a messy metal endoskeleton on which two yellow eyes, one fake and one who could move, had been fixed so it looked a little more alive and so William didn’t have the impression to talk to himself. The fake eye would be hiding behind an eyepatch in its final form and wouldn’t need complex wires like the second one.

William chose to make Foxy smaller and thinner than the others, more of a human size. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the weight of the costume, too heavy. The fox fell several times already, causing its spine to twist slightly. Because of this, Foxy couldn’t stand straight. William decided to leave it this way to make him a little more realistic. A pirate is always mistreated by the life he’s living after all.

He switched on the robot. Immediately, the animatronic’s legs frantically moved like Foxy was about to run a marathon. The hook that replaced his left hand almost skewered the hand of his creator, who quickly took a step back.

“Again?” He whined, kind of used to the robots’ malfunctions. “When will you work like I want you to?”

“Ya-a-a-a-a-a-a-arr!” The robot screamed with a broken voice. “I’m Fo-Fo-Foxy the pirate! Join-oin-oin the pirate co-cove to live new-new-new-new adven-ven-tures!”

The fox’s music box also contained the dialogue box of the robot. It was overheating again. He sighed. Fredbear encountered the same problem during the opening. He opened a drawer on his right and picked up a fuse. He pushed it into a hole inside one of the fox’s legs. He immediately stopped moving frantically.

“Ya want to know-know-know how to stay big-big-big-big and stro-o-o-ong children-dren? Ya need to eat-eat-eat salad, cabin b-boy!” The fox said energetically.

William rolled his eyes. This was one of Henry’s lines… So boring. Who wants to eat salad in a pizzeria anyway? This was like the unhealthiest place ever. 

The roboticist grabbed the music box and unplugged it. He rushed to put it on the service table as it burned his hand. A little longer and it would have probably caught fire! 

Foxy kept talking, but no more sound came from its mouth. William pushed a button hiding inside its jaw and the robot immobilized completely. 

“Let’s try your new costume!” William announced to the robot, excited, like it could answer to him.

He opened a metal wardrobe behind him and picked up a huge red pirate fox head with sharp pointy teeth. William sighed with relief as it perfectly covered the endoskeleton, perfectly sized. He spent a few seconds fixing it and plugging a few wires, before switching it on again. The robot moved its head again. His jaw opened and closed at the same rhythm its eyepatch did. Satisfied, William installed the rest of the body: a naked furry torso and brown ragged pants. Strangely enough, it was the only robot with pants. William didn’t know why, but Foxy triggered him without them. He had no problem with Fredbear, Golden Freddy, or Spring Bonnie though, all three of them bear or rabbit from head to toe. Maybe he should think about it.

William smiled as he took a step back to enjoy the show. Foxy stood still, slightly bent over. The torso looked too heavy again. Oh well, it would do for now. The roboticist grabbed a new voice box and plugged it where the old one was. Hopefully, this one would work better.

“Help! Help! Help! Help! Help me! Help me!”

William jumped, surprised. It was not Foxy’s voice. It was not its dialogue lines either.

“Help! Help! Help me! Help me!”

William frantically hit Foxy’s chest, trying to shut it up. Its voice modulated for a moment before it screamed again, this time at maximum volume. 

“Dead! Dead! Help me! Help me! Dead! Murder! Murder! Help!”

The roboticist tore the voice box off. He accidentally dropped it and watched helplessly as it exploded into hundreds of pieces on the workshop floor. William stayed silent for long minutes, panting, as he tried to calm his heart down. His hands were shaking.

What had just happened?

Both scared and curious, he grabbed the old voice box and plugged it back. Foxy reacted immediately.

“Ya-a-a-a-arr! I’m Foxy…”

William switched off the robot, confused. Maybe there was a gas leak in the new box, and he hallucinated the whole thing? He wished it was just that. A bit panicked, he quickly cleaned the place and put the robots back in their place. He was done for today. Despite his apparent calm, he still ran out of the room and violently closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked at least three times. 

He recovered from the shock by filling out some paperwork for the rest of the afternoon. Even if he tried to stay focused, Foxy’s words kept turning inside his head, again and again. He promised to investigate this issue further the next morning. After all, it had to be an explanation. Things like this didn’t happen out of nowhere. Maybe Henry tried to prank him before leaving the place? 

Henry…

His eyes fell on a letter addressed to his friend. William opened it. It was the propriety title of the restaurant. Everything had Henry’s name on it since the two men agreed to let him manage the building, so William would only have to focus on the robots. What was he going to do now? Should he erase Henry’s name from everything? He put the letter away, safe inside his jacket. One thing at the time, he would deal with this later. 

The phone on his desk rang. William picked the call up.

“Dad!” A girl's voice screamed, excited.

“Hey, Liz.” He answered, smiling. “How is my princess doing? Everything is fine?”

“Oh, yes, it’s fine. We’re back home, and Mommy says she loves you. And that I really need to set the table and that calling you won’t help me to avoid doing it.”

William chuckled. “Well, tell your mom that Dad has maybe found a house for her and that she will be happy.”

“Mommy! Dad said he found a house! …She says she’s happy but that I really have to set the table now.”

“Do what she says, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Bye, Dad!”

“See you soon, sweetheart.”

He hung up, his heart feeling a little bit lighter. Talking with his daughter always cheered him up. He looked up towards the clock. It was already 6 p.m. He deserved some rest in his motel room. He grabbed his jacket and his keys and walked to the exit, closing all the doors on his way out. 

As he was about to close the dining room, a quirky detail caught his eye. Over its metal box on the opposite side of the room, the Marionette’s upper body dangled weirdly. He frowned and came closer to the robot. Its striped long arms were touching the floor and its head looked dislocated. Weird. He was sure he put it back correctly after he found it outside. Maybe the rain made it react weirdly.

William pushed the robot back up and gently sat it up inside the box again. He closed it carefully after that. A bit paranoid after what happened with Foxy, he picked up a heavy toolbox and put it above the lid, just to be sure nothing would come out. 

It was ridiculous. He was just tired. 

After a last look at the dining room, he switched off the lights and left the building.

Through the big window outside, only Fredbear and Spring Bonnie's eyes shone in the dark. They were waiting for the beginning of events that would transform forever the face of the pizzeria. At least, William hoped so.

Pensive, the roboticist went back to his motel. The next day, he would have to open and manage the restaurant all on his own. A new challenge he was definitely not ready yet to take up. He spent the night in front of the television, eating chips and drinking soda. 

Tomorrow would be another day.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Living Doll

William was not that confident as he entered the pizzeria the next morning. What he saw in the window as he arrived really displeased him. The Marionette’s box was visible from the outside, and he immediately noticed that the heavy toolbox he put on it the previous day had disappeared. 

Cautious, he stuck his head out the entrance of the room. He frowned.

The toolbox fell not far from where it was. However, everything it contained spilled everywhere in the room like someone threw them around. The Marionette was once again hanging partially from its place. 

More afraid than annoyed, William looked around searching for a clue to explain what happened. His eyes stopped on the security camera in the corner. He could check the recording to see what was wrong. Maybe someone intruded during the night? It would be comforting. He never believed in the paranormal anyway.

Determined, he walked to his office and turned on the televisions linked to the security cameras, one by one. The image was terrible, but enough to recognize the different pieces of furniture in the dining room. William rewinded the video to the beginning of the night, then sped it to go through the recording.

In the dark room, he recognized the bright eyes of Fredbear and SpringBonnie. Around one o’clock, a human silhouette appeared behind the main window of the building. Someone was lurking inside. William held his breath as the intruder somehow entered without any difficulty, by the main door. 

He had the key, William thought.

It could only be Henry, which was soon confirmed. Stumbling awkwardly, the co-owner of the pizzeria approached the main stage. He stayed there for a long minute, before throwing a beer bottle on Fredbear. He then took two steps back, visibly staring at the bear intensely for a while. After that, he climbed the main stage and pulled Fredbear’s bowtie, opening the bear’s stomach to look inside.

William closed his eyes for a second, trying to calm the growing anger rising in his heart. He had no doubt anymore: Henry killed the child. 

However, it was not the end of Henry’s plans. 

His friend – well, not so a friend anymore, he guessed – returned to the main corridor. He opened the checkout and grabbed a wad of bills that he quickly hid in his pockets. Finally, he took the hallway to the offices. He tried to open William’s door, without much success as the roboticist always locked it, before opening his own door. A few minutes later, he got out holding some papers. Some of them were too big to be just taxes.

“Old robot blueprints?” William mumbled in disbelief. “What is he even doing…”

Henry ran in the night soon after, closing the door behind him. William frowned. He was right about someone intruding on the building at night, but what about the toolbox? When Henry left, it was still on the Marionette’s shelter, where William put it the previous day.

He didn’t have to wait much longer to see what really happened.

The metal box suddenly moved out of nowhere in fits and starts. It took a few seconds for William to understand something was knocking on the inside. Something or someone was trying to escape the box. A strong hit made the toolbox tumble. It opened when it hit the ground, spilling all the tools around. The thing inside was strong. Really strong. 

Slowly, the two flaps that kept the Animatronic inside opened, as if the Marionette activated. Except it was impossible, since no one touched the button that allowed this action. The dark silhouette emerged, dancing graciously as its upper body stretched.

“It’s just a bug.” William said, trying to reassure himself. “It can’t activate on its own..”

The Marionette looked around, then raised its body above ground. It floated above the edge of the box. 

William recoiled in surprise. It was definitely not supposed to do that. He didn’t program it to do that. His robots couldn’t fly! He was certain of it. 

As an instinct, the robot crossed the room, floating, straight to the kitchen. It knocked against the door leading outside, the one where William found it last time. One time, two times, ten times, before finally giving up and retracing its steps into the dining room. It stopped in front of Fredbear for a few seconds and pointed at it. William swore he saw the bear vibrate for a second.

The image suddenly scrambled, masking the view for a second. William hit the television, which seemed to work. Except that the Marionette was now right in front of the camera, looking straight through it. Was it looking at him? Even if it looked like it, William tried to stay rational. It was a recording. It couldn’t… Look at him. Right?

He sped the video. The Marionette stayed exactly where it was, looking through the camera, for long hours. As if it knew someone would observe it. How was it even possible? Robots couldn’t know someone was observing them. 

At six in the morning, the Marionette finally left and walked back to its box. It collapsed on its edge, in the same position William found it earlier. 

William turned off the screens. His hands were shaking. He could handle a murder, but this was too much. He stood up and walked back to the dining room, wary. The Marionette was still there, as still as it was supposed to be. 

William grabbed a broom, then quickly hit the back of the weird doll. The robot straightened up. He held his breath as its inexistent eyes landed on him. William held his broom closed, ready to defend himself. Instead of attacking him, however, the Marionette simply saluted an invisible crowd, as it was supposed to do. 

He shivered. He used to love these mechanical cold movements. But something seemed kind of threatening now. He couldn’t handle more of this. 

He took a step back, then another before running to the exit as if the devil chased him. 

He locked the door and crossed the road, straight to the motel. He needed to rest and figure out what had happened. Rationally.

**********

Hidden behind the pizzeria, Henry watched in confusion and surprise as William suddenly ran out of the building. He was leaving a little earlier each day, as if something didn’t want him inside. Good for him. Henry needed a shower, and the restaurant’s bathrooms would do. His hands were shaking, dirty. He missed alcohol so much that he started to hallucinate things.

For a few days, he kept hearing her voice, the voice of his daughter. She was calling him, neither aggressive nor angry, just… Calling. Constantly. To the point he wasn’t sure if it was real or not. It had to be in his head. Because he wasn’t sure what he would do if it was not. 

Nothing in his life was fine since she left him and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now.

He didn’t return to his apartment. He was living in his car, two streets behind the restaurant, and gleaned food in the cupboards of the pizzeria as soon as William left. 

He waited for his old friend – if he could still call him a friend after what he did to him – to disappear from his sight to unlock the door and invite himself in. He walked warily to the dining room, and stopped a while in front of the robots. Fredbear was frozen, an arm in the air while Springbonnie looked to the right, holding a golden cupcake. 

William did a good job. No one could tell the bear carried a little girl inside of it. He didn’t know what his friend did to his daughter’s body, but he was sort of relieved she was gone. It was only temporary, he panicked. He would have disposed of her, but when he came back the next day, she was gone. He got worried William might betray him but he didn’t.  Maybe he was still his friend after all? At least, he tried to comfort himself with the thought. 

The truth was that he couldn’t bear to see his reflection in any mirror since what he did. He didn’t even tell her mother. Not that she cared anyway, but it was something people were supposed to do. It was her fault anyway. She abandoned him with her. He never asked to take care of a child by himself. He was never suited to be a father.

And what would he even say to her? What would it change? She was dead. Every night when he closed his eyes, he could see Charlotte’s bulging eyes asking him why he did that, he could still feel her stiff body as he stuffed her inside that bear. He crossed a line no father should ever cross and he would have to live forever with the consequences of this terrible act. He did that to himself. It was his burden.

In a sigh, he looked at the clock. Ten o’clock. He could spend the night here. William hated getting out when it was dark outside. He should be fine. 

He started his night by washing himself in the kitchen sink, then he dug in the cupboards, searching for something to eat. William emptied the fridges, but he found a jar of pickles and an old bottle of whisky, half open already, he forgot he hid behind the fridge and that William somehow didn’t see. It would have to do. After struggling for a few minutes with the lid of the jar, he walked to the living room and turned on the robot, without the sound. As they started to move, he relaxed slightly. 

Their mechanical dance was comforting. They reminded him he didn’t mess everything up in his life after all. Once the restaurant would open for good, it would have a great success, he was sure of it. Maybe he could even come back in a few years, to see how it evolved? Or maybe not.

Daddy?

The jar fell from his hands and crashed on the floor in a hundred pieces. Henry stood up, panicking, his eyes landing on every piece of furniture around him.

No. Not again!

“Who’s there? Show yourself already! You’ve been tormenting me for days no, it’s not funny!”

Only the heavy sound of his breath answered him. He looked around him, nervous, until his blood turned to ice when he noticed a camera in the corner of the room. Since when was it there? Suddenly terrified at the idea William might notice him, he ran to the offices. He knew William’s door was closed, but it wasn’t unbreakable. He kicked it hard, then realizing it was not working, used a chair to break it completely.

Multiple screens appeared in sight. Henry pulled all the wires, then ejected the VHS recording his movements. He crushed it under the weight of one of the televisions. Maybe if he made it look like a forcing, William wouldn’t notice. He broke all the screens, one by one, then flipped his desk over. He broke the shelves with William’s desk chair and threw all the papers on the floor. 

He turned to the forbidden zone: William’s workshop. Would he dare to touch his friend’s robots? 

However, he couldn’t think more about this plan as a loud noise in the dining room made him jump. Several music notes echoed in the hallway, not far from his position. Did someone intrude on the building? Maybe he made too much noise. It was time to leave.

Warily, he got out of the office and walked very slowly towards the dining room, ready to run away at any sign of danger. 

His eyes widened as he witnessed a very unexpected scene. The Marionette was out of its box, floating a few centimeters away from the ground, without any logic. The robot was watching Freadbear and SpringBonnie dance on the stage, its head moving to the rhythm of its own music box, just like…

He put a hand on his mouth and retreated against the wall. Charlie didn’t like to dance, but she always moved her head in rhythm like this. He felt his heartbeat sped under the shock. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stuck his head in the entrance again.

The stripped face of the robot was there, inches from his. The eyes of the robot, which shouldn’t exist, lightened. They were bright. Brighter than everything he ever saw. 

Henry stepped back, holding his breath, then ran towards William’s office as fast as he could. The music followed him. He slammed the door at the Marionette’s face, and locked it with William’s chair, panting.

What was that? What was he supposed to do?

Daddy? 

The voice echoed everywhere around him, way louder than what it used to be. He whimpered, distressed, and curled up in a corner of the room, the hands covering his ears. He sobbed for the first time since her death. He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t!

Why wouldn’t she leave him alone?

Was he losing it? What if it was all in his head? Maybe it was the whisky? What was wrong with him?

Behind the door, the robot kept scratching the door, more and more insistent.

He needed to leave.

Now.

Driven with adrenaline, he stood up and ran to the door. He pushed the robot out of the way as hard as he could and ran to the exit. He slammed the door closed and locked it.

The Marionette stared at him behind the window. Her hand met the glass. Begging. Henry stayed eye-in-eye for a long minute, before grabbing a hold of himself and running away from the pizzeria.

Away from Charlie. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Going forward

William woke up as someone knocked strongly on his room’s door. He took a few seconds to surface, a bit disoriented. The night had been harsh and too short once again. He groped around to switch on his bedside lamp. The knocks on the door grew louder, insisting.

“Sir, this is the police. Open up!”

The man jumped out of bed, heart racing with the sudden adrenaline. Oh no. Someone had discovered the body. He was finished! They were going to throw him in prison. He hesitated and roamed the place nervously. 

The policemen would probably break the door if he kept playing dead, he had to make a decision. He calmed his breathing and slowly opened the door, his throat dry and his stomach so tense he felt like he could throw up any instant.

The police officer met his eyes. He had already seen that man before. It was the same who came to analyze Fredbear. Did he finally find proof? Did someone denounce him? The man didn’t look angry. Quite the contrary actually. The police officer pointed at his warrant card.

“Officer Clay Burke, we met before. I’m sorry to wake you up so early, Mr. Afton. We got a call from a neighbor. Someone had been seen intruding on your restaurant last night. The guy reported hearing suspicious noises, and a man apparently fled the building around three in the morning. Can you come with me so we can check if anything is missing?”

“Henry”, William immediately thought. Relieved the officer was not here for him, William relaxed. He lowered his eyes on his clothes, a bit embarrassed.

“Can I change first?”

“Of course, I can give you ten minutes to dress up.” The agent said. “Take your time.”

“Would you like something to drink?” William asked. “I have only bad coffee to propose, but it can make the wait more pleasant, right?”

“Glady.”

William moved out of the way to let him in. Clay walked around the room, looking around. The robotician cleared the small table, covered with papers and robotic pieces, then switched on the coffee machine. He served the police officer and slipped out in the bathroom.

As soon as the door locked behind him, he sighed loudly to evacuate the pressure fully.  Everything was fine, he needed to stop stressing so much. One problem at a time. The intrusion was worrying, but maybe Henry sneaked in again and got surprised by something like… Like the Marionette. He shivered with displeasure. He hated that idea, but that could explain his sudden runaway. 

He closed his eyes, the cold water of the shower clearing his mind for good. He dressed up in a hurry, then got out, a lot calmer and almost falsely serene. 

Burke was standing up next to the bed. He held a photo in his arms. He looked up, not that embarrassed about being caught digging in his stuff. William frowned. Was he looking for something?

“That’s your kids?” The officer asked, pointing at the picture.

“Yes. They’re in Colorado with their mother. George, Elizabeth, and Michael.”

“They’re cute. I have a son too. Carlton. He must be around your older one’s age.”

William smiled politely.

“Can we go?” The officer asked, changing the subject.

The robotician nodded. The two men left the motel and crossed the road rapidly. In front of the pizzeria, two police cars with flashing lights on waited patiently. Several officers were standing in front of the main entrance, ready to follow him.

William threw a nervous stare at the Marionette’s box through the window. The robot moved again, he was certain of it. He forced himself to look away, afraid it might make the officers suspicious.

He tried to push the door, but it was locked. 

“Are there other ways to get in?” Burke asked.

“There’s a back entrance behind the kitchen. It’s in that alley right here.” William answered, pointing to a space between the building and a wall on the left. “It only opens from the inside though.”

“The suspect was seen fleeing by the main door. Strangely, it’s locked. Someone else has the keys to your building, Mr. Afton?”

“Yes. Henry Emily. He’s not in the area at the moment, however.” He lied. 

The officer growled for all answers, dubitative. 

William unlocked the main door and crossed the entrance hallway. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. He glanced at the dining room. Bonnie and Freddy were standing still, as they should. The manager activated them to make sure no problem was to report with them. They started to move in synchrony, in a perfect state.

He then went to check on the Marionette. Like the day before, the robot was hanging out of the box. William hit the robot lightly. It immediately stood up, making him jump, and saluted an invisible crowd. William forced it to go back inside its box. He would apparently have to do that a lot the next few days…

Burke watched him work from the entrance of the room, looking around. He suddenly pointed at the upper corner of the room.

“You have security cameras?”

“Yes. We can check the recording from my office.”

The two men left the dining room to reach the east corridor of the pizzeria. William understood rapidly someone forced the door to his office. A little paranoid about the safety of his workshop, he could never have forgotten to lock it. Burke read the surprise on his face.

William stopped at the entrance, defeated. It was a carnage. The TV screens had been smashed on the floor. His folders had been scattered in the whole room. His heart sank as he ran to the back door leading to his workshop. He met Foxy’s eye, intact, thankfully. He sighed, relieved. 

Curious, Burke eyed the unfinished robot above his shoulder.

“The suspect probably saw the cameras.” He announced like it wasn’t obvious. “Classic case, unfortunately. You are covered by insurance, right?”

“Yes. It could have been worse. The tapes are dead though. We’ll never know who did that.”

“My guess is that the guy panicked before he had time to steal anything. You are a lucky man, Mr. Afton. We will increase the patrols in your street this month, to be certain your thief doesn’t come back. We’ll send someone in a few hours so you can report any other damage once you check the whole building. We’ll act as guarantor for your insurance.”

“Thanks, Officer Burke.”

“You’re still opening tonight?”

“Definitely. A few broken glasses won’t stop me. We’re opening tonight.”

“Very well. I’ll see you there then. Everyone in town is talking about your robots. I’d love to see them in action with my kid.”

The police officer nodded to him as a goodbye and left him alone. William waited for the main door to close loudly to start organizing his folders. Did Henry steal some papers? That wouldn’t make any sense, he thought. Luckily, the most important papers were safe in his motel room. 

He spent the afternoon cleaning the mess. The televisions weren’t salvable. He tried to fix them with some improvised robot parts, but the screens were too damaged. Oh well… The insurance would cover that, it wasn’t a big deal. William was a lucky man indeed. He only thought, while cleaning, that he would have probably needed to explain to the officer why the Marionette was walking alone in the middle of the night… Or why the co-owner of the pizzeria was acting like a thief. He was actually glad the cameras were broken. 

Still a little shaken after all of this, William hurried to prepare the dining room next. Two hours left before the opening. By the time he finished warming the ovens, people were already waiting in front of the doors. He feared the last events would dissuade them to come, but quite the contrary happened. A large line started to form in the main hall. He let as many people as he could enter the dining room and eventually had to refuse the last ones. He was alone, he couldn’t physically be everywhere.

While Fredbear and SpringBonnie entertained the crowd of children dancing in front of the stage, William ran into the kitchen to cook the pizzas. Some nice parents accepted to give a hand out of pity, after watching him struggle to carry twenty pizza boxes at the same time. 

For the first time, it really felt like he was managing a restaurant. The pizzas were edible, the robots enthralled the children and the dining room was full of people laughing and talking together. This was the reason why he opened a diner. He loved that atmosphere, that reminded him of his own childhood. His mother was always taking him to places similar to this one. Without the robots though. He did that all by himself.

Smiling, he took a few minutes break to admire the result of his hard work. Some kids were arguing to see Fredbear from a better angle, while the parents all gathered on two tables, talking together. He spotted Burke in the crowd, sitting next to a teenager with red hair, focused on the show. The officer waved at him happily. 

Everything was fine.

Maybe too fine.

As the clock struck midnight, the room started to empty. William carried dirty plates and empty pizza boxes in the kitchen. He dropped everything on the counter, then, noticing a shadow in the corner of his eye, looked up, thinking a customer needed help with something.

It was not a customer.

It was the Marionette. Standing there. Staring at him. 

Speechless, William froze in shock. His hand grabbed a broom to defend himself, but the Marionette ignored him and walked past him. Like on the recording, it banged against the kitchen door, again and again, seemingly more and more distressed. It was stupid. A robot couldn’t be distressed. 

William slowly relaxed. It was less impressive now that he could see the scene play in front of him. Maybe it was just a bug after all?

“What do you want?” He asked the robot. “There’s no one outside. Go back to the dining room. You’re supposed to watch the kids.”

He grabbed its arm to pull it backward. With a surprising strength, it went back to the door, dragging him along. William hesitated, then opened the door. The Marionette ran outside and stopped in front of a trash can. 

William shivered. It was not any trash can. It was the one where he dumped… He preferred not to think about it. It was gone. 

The Marionette stayed frozen for long minutes. Assuming it was done, William grabbed her arm to try to pull it back into the restaurant. As soon as he touched it, the robot turned his face to him. William jumped backward, scared. Its eyes were shining, like it had pupils. It had not. He built it. He knew it didn't have pupils.

Dad?

The voice echoed everywhere around him. It was the voice of a little girl, weirdly deformed. William took a step back. It was too much. 

The robot walked towards him, menacingly.

“St-stop! Stay there!” Willia screamed.

He grabbed a trash can and used it as a shield to block the robot. He then ran back inside and slammed the door behind him. The Marionette followed closely. It banged behind the door for a moment… Then the noise stopped. Panting like he ran a marathon, William took a moment to calm down. None of this was real. He just had to ignore it and… Yes, go back to cleaning the dining room. Like nothing happened. 

A hand touched his shoulder. William screamed at the top of his lungs and turned around to face a very surprised man. He bent over, out of breath. Just a customer. He was fine.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” The man said. 

The customer seemed very old. He leaned a hand to him. William shook it, not really understanding what was going on. The man looked enthusiastic at least.

“Mr. Afton! I’m glad to finally meet you. My name is Frederic Fazbear. I’m…”

“The creator of Freddy Fazbear and friends!” William realized, suddenly excited. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were coming tonight. If I knew, I…”

“It’s alright. I wasn’t supposed to come before next week, but I heard interesting stories about your restaurant and wanted to see the show before making any kind of decision. You see, you intrigued me a lot when we talked on the phone a few months ago. My cartoon is very old, no one cares anymore. So, having someone ask me out of nowhere to make robots of it? It looked like a crazy idea!”

Taken aback, William flushed lightly. He never expected that. The old man was a hero of his childhood, a millionaire who became famous thirty years ago with a small cartoon that inspired William to create. Foxy the Pirate was one of its main characters, the antagonist more precisely. William talked to him a few times, to be sure Fredbear wasn’t too similar looking to his main character, Freddy Fazbear, even though William clearly took it as a model. 

“I know it is late, but I would like to talk to you tomorrow, about my characters. I would like to buy you this restaurant. I see great potential in this project and would like to make it even crazier.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, don’t worry! You would still be in charge of everything. I think you will like my offer. Here, take my card. Call me when I can come tomorrow. Have a good night, Mr. Afton.”

The old man leaned him a piece of paper, and immediately disappeared in the crowd, as soon as he came. A bit shocked, William looked at the name on the card for long minutes. Who would buy a restaurant so soon after its opening? He probably understood that wrong. This was silly.

The last customers soon left the dining room. William stayed with his thoughts, watching Fredbear and SpringBonnie perform on the stage. Maybe the situation was not that desperate after all. It even improved! 

All he needed now was to stop thinking about the past and embrace the future.

He needed to move forward.

It couldn’t be that hard… Right?

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: The Turning Point

Despite his promise to come back the next day, William didn’t see Mr. Fazbear before a few weeks. Disappointed, but not too surprised, the pizzeria owner focused on his work as a routine took place at the Fredbear’s Family Diner. More and more people were coming day after day, and if he didn’t think too much about whatever was going on with the Marionette each night, everything was going well. William simply made sure to close the restaurant right before midnight to avoid crossing the path of the weird walking doll. As long as it was doing that only at night, it was fine.

Added to that, Willian kept himself busy those weeks. He changed all the locks, and the entire security system right after. Everything opened or switched on with magnetic cards now, and he was the only one having them, which helped calm his nerves a little. 

He also managed to convince the estate agent to sell him the house right behind the restaurant. He spent a few weeks transferring everything from his workshop to his new one, except Foxy, too big to pass the door, both to avoid his creation being destroyed by a surprise visit from Henry, but also to work more comfortably in a place that didn’t remind him of his workplace. He had a bigger room now that he hoped would welcome even more ambitious projects. 

The house however still needed some adjustments. The water was cold and the power cut off every time he plugged in more than two devices. But it was home. He had already started to move furniture from his old house with the help of his wife, who was taking care of the administrative part so the kids could leave school in the middle of the year without trouble. Once done, they would all move into the new house, which William waited for excitedly. 

Obviously, beds would be the last pieces of furniture to arrive so William borrowed an old couch from one of his restaurant's kid’s parents. Even if temporary, his back was hurting like hell since, but he didn’t complain. It was still better than the cold floor. He still missed his bed and the cuddle sessions with Maggie. 

Even if he liked his job as a roboticist and as a pizzeria owner, since Henry was gone, he felt a bit isolated. He found himself more suspicious of the endoskeletons as well, and had apprehension every time he had to open one of his robots, fearing the nightmare might happen again. He still pretended everything was fine, even though he was clearly traumatized by the recent events. He didn’t like to think too much about it.

What helped him the most to not let the dark thoughts win was improving his restaurant, like today. Despite the rain outside, a lot of people gathered in the diner to celebrate the opening of the brand-new arcade room. William fought for days with a seller to obtain those four arcade games. In exchange for ten percent of what each game would cost the public, he could do whatever he wanted with them. The children already liked them, and William desperately needed the money they would bring for his next projects. He wanted to add a few more rooms to the restaurant, including party rooms, and he was still talking with the city to have their approval and maybe financial help to do it. William knew he could work. Several customers came from other states to see his robots, and it was happening more and more often, which meant people were talking about the Diner. 

The only dark point to this project was the lack of employees so far. A lot of parents agreed to help him in the kitchen whenever he was too busy, but table service was only one small part of his job. William struggled to organize to take care of the papers: the repayment of the building and the furniture, the request for sponsorships, the marketing… And obviously, the robots! He didn’t know which way to turn anymore. All of this was supposed to be Henry’s job. 

His wife agreed to help him while she searched for a new job in Hurricane, which relieved him temporarily. But she was not here yet, and that wouldn’t solve every problem magically. He needed a manager to take care of everything, but he didn’t have the money to hire someone at the moment. Maybe in a few months, maybe.

However, he found an unexpected friend to deal with the legal management of his business: Clay Burke, the police officer. In exchange for free pizzas for his son, he took care of most legal documents and even some negotiations concerning the robots. The two men grew closer these last weeks and William spent a lot of his evenings at his place for dinner. He liked the young man's charisma, always passionate about his job.

Lost in thought, William almost forgot the pizzas cooking in his oven. He gasped loudly and quickly took them out. Some of them turned out a bit black underneath but that was the risk coming with handmade pizzas. No one had the audacity yet to criticize his cooking despite how catastrophic it was - he assumed it himself – so he wasn’t complaining. Unlike Henry, he didn’t learn the basics of cooking for restaurants and sort of improvised the best he could with what little money he had.

The rack burned his hands, and everything fell on the floor… On the wrong side, obviously. William raised his eyes to the sky and muffled an ugly curse. Oh… He so loved doing the same task again and again…

“Mister Afton?”

William sighed, defeated, and turned toward the door. His eyes widened with surprise.

It was the old man again, Mr Fazbear, the creator of the cartoon show. William straightened and did his best to welcome him warmly, all while slightly pushing the pizzas on the floor under the fridge. 

“What can I do for you, Mr Fazbear? I expected you weeks ago.” The roboticist said, maybe colder than he thought.

“I know, I know. My sincerest apologies. I am here to explain why. Do you have some time for me after the service? I’ll be patient.”

“Alright.” William accepted, still curious about that proposition the man was supposed to do to him. “You can enjoy the show in the meantime.”

The old man thanked him and left him with his pizza carnage. William, now a bit excited, sped to end the service as fast as he could. Maybe he served the pizza that fell on the ground to some Karen who barked at him for taking too long just for revenge. No one could prove it anyway. Around 3 p.m., the owner of the diner finally closed the door after the last customers. 

Sitting in the empty dining room, Frederic Fazbear was comfortably sitting on a chair in front of the stage. He was watching SpringBonnie and Fredbear sing and dance. He did only that in the last hours actually. Most would have gotten bored of the looping show already, but the old man still seemed as fascinated as the moment when he sat down in front of the stage. 

William took a deep breath, grabbed a chair, and joined him.

The two men kept silent for a long moment, just staring at the robots. William winced as Fredbear still struggled to turn fully at the right by moment. Despite all the energy he put into the robot, it seemed that technical flaw was doomed to stay, forever silent witness of whatever happened inside of that suit. He shivered uncontrollably.

He pulled himself together and focused on the old man next to him. He looked out of place with his black handmade suit, as if he came from another time. Almost bald, his prominent forehead hid partially under big glasses that made him look even older. He looked like one of these eccentric aristocrats usually roaming in the streets of New York City or Washington. Not the type to visit a tiny city in the middle of the desert. 

His eyes were shining excitedly, like a child, as he kept staring at his robots. However, that spark soon darkened, regretful.

“I’m going to die soon, Mr. Afton.” He said straight away. “The doctors told me I have three or four months before the end. I couldn’t meet you last time because I suffered a stroke. There’s a tumor, in my brain. It won’t get better. In a few weeks, maybe a few days, I might start to forget things. It has already started. Maybe I already knew it was there, for some time. I am sure you can now understand why I was so eager to meet you. I’m lacking time, and this is why I’m here.”

He looked down, playing with his cane for a moment.

“I don’t have any heir, Mr. Afton. At least, none that deserve to claim ownership of my fortune. But you, you are ambitious, young, and obviously talented.”

The man pointed at the robot. Touched by the compliment, William couldn’t find the good words to answer. This was a lot. 

“I would like to offer you my universe, Freddy Fazbear’s and Friends. My manager told me you contacted him to obtain the authorization to use my characters as an inspiration for your robots. I want to give you more than that. You can have it all. The cartoon has had its days, children want to see something new. Something real and concrete. With your robots, Mr. Afton, you found a way to make it possible. To bring the fantasy to life. I would love to see how you handle the responsibility, unfortunately, I might not have enough time for this. However, the thought that my universe is in good hands is comforting enough.”

Frederic Fazbear met his eyes.

“When I said I would like to buy your restaurant, I didn’t mean to take it away from you, far from that. You will still be in charge of everything but with a lot more money and new ideas. Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy need a new hand to guide them. Would you accept to become their ambassador?”

A bit in shock, William nodded, not knowing what to say. It was a big responsibility, as that universe was loved by many even though it was a lot less popular these days. The idea seduced him, obviously. With almost unlimited money, he could upgrade his machines with the latest technology. 

But… Was it really a good idea to suddenly expose himself everywhere when he was trying to keep a low profile after what Henry did? 

He didn’t hesitate for long, however. It was a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he would be a fool to reject an offer like that! Excited like a child, he struggled to calm down.

“I don’t know if I can make your characters as popular as they used to be, but that’s something I would love to try. I accept your proposition, Mr. Fazbear, with all my gratitude.” He answered, the eyes shining.

William stayed silent for a minute, then his whole face illuminated. He jumped back on his feet and pointed to the stage.

“I have something to show you. Stay there, you’re going to love it.”

He left the room and ran to his office. He opened the door of what was left of his workshop and grabbed Foxy’s control panel on the shelf. As soon as he switched on the starting button, the fox’s ears agitated. He lifted his head.

“Ya-a-a-a-r! I’m F-Foxy the pirate!”

William played with a few buttons. Foxy straightened, then took a feverish step forward. His very first one. William winced as the weight of the costume made the endoskeleton slightly bent forward, but it held steady. It was way too early to test that new functionality, but if it was the last time Mr. Fazbear could come to his restaurant, then it was worth it. 

A new era of possibilities has just begun, full of surprises and unpredictability. 

Step after step, Foxy walked to the exit of the room, then the corridor. The robot clearly needed adjustments, his whole body tilted to the right, but at least, it gave credibility to the role he was supposed to play: a pirate. Added to that, the eyepatch kept glitching and William had to duck several times to avoid the fox’s hook, randomly coming at him from time to time.

Finally, Foxy entered the dining room to meet the man who gave life to him. A large smile illuminated the old man’s face. He stood up and turned around the robot, not hiding his enthusiasm. William took his reaction as a reward for these last months of work. If the owner of Freddy Fazbear and Friends liked it, then surely the customers would too. 

“Splendid!” Frederic exclaimed. “This is extraordinary, Mr. Afton. I can’t even believe it.”

“He’s not finished yet.” William answered, blushing. “Some pieces are not functioning the way they should yet, but I have good hope he could be on stage next year.”

“I didn’t expect you to already have a prototype to show me. Did you work on the others too?”

“Barely. I’m working on Freddy’s endoskeleton at home. Chica and Bonnie will come next. Foxy is just a prototype, as I explained to your manager. I wanted to show it to convince you, but I suppose this is not needed anymore. At least, I know what to improve for the next ones.”

Marveled, Frederic hung on his every word. The old man turned toward Fredbear and SpringBonnie, still performing on the stage, worried.

“What about them? What will happen to them once my characters are finished?”

“Portative costumes.” William answered. “I’m working hard so they can both be robots and suits people can wear. Then, maybe they could have some place in your universe. I can see Fredbear as Freddy’s grumpy grandpa.” He joked. “Fredbear will soon be replaced anyway by SpringFreddy. Or Golden Freddy maybe. Henry named it like that.”

“Henry?”

“Hum…” William slapped himself mentally. Why did he mention Henry? “He is not working here anymore.”

“I see.”

The man nodded, apparently comforted by the thought the old robots would not disappear. 

Both of them discussed what would happen next during what was left of the afternoon. They agreed to meet a week later to take care of the papers. In exchange for the right to adapt Mr. Fazbear’s universe freely, he would have to rename the restaurant “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza” and put rapidly the main characters of the cartoon on the stage. He could do that.

When the old man left the building, a purple car parked in front of the building, followed by a huge moving van. William stared, confused. 

The doors of the car opened and a red-haired tornado ran towards him, screaming something about a surprise and excited “We’re here Dad!”. He grabbed Elizabeth in his arms and turned towards his wife.

“I thought you couldn’t come before another few weeks!”

“Your children missed you. They couldn’t wait anymore.”

“But I didn’t help to move the furniture!”

“Don’t worry about that, I took care of everything.”

She grabbed his face and kissed him full mouth, effectively shutting him up. He smiled.

It seemed everything was finally working as he wanted it. He couldn’t wait to see what the future had for him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Silence

Maggie’s and the children’s arrival gave back some courage to William. He was finally smiling again. The weeks that followed were flourishing, both for the restaurant and for his family.

The Afton settled inside their new house, even if there were still a lot of things to fix or arrange. Moving in turned out to be more complicated than expected: a truck got lost on the way to the city and mysteriously disappeared – or at least, that was what William was thinking since they hadn’t answered any of his calls since. The children had to share the couch for more than a month. The small troubles however didn’t last to fade away as the Afton were so happy to be together as a family once again after so long. 

William struggled a bit to be a father again, even more since his children kept growing up without him in the few months he was away. Elizabeth warmed up to him the fastest. Father and daughter always had a great bond, and William was happy to spend time with her again. Distant, George had more trouble adapting to his new school. The teacher said he didn’t have many friends, but William was certain it was just temporary. As for Michael… Well… He was mostly home playing video games and not talking to anyone, even though William spotted him a few times already in front of the restaurant with other teenagers. He would be fine.

Maggie’s arrival helped a lot to improve the efficiency of the restaurant. William’s wife offloaded his cooking tasks so he could focus more on the robots. The owner signed Frederic Fazbear’s contract after his last visit. He had now three years to create a new set of animatronics and change the name of the restaurant to “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”. 

With almost unlimited money, William worked way more easily on the future mascots. Foxy took only a few months to complete, then he started working on Freddy, the star animatronic of the future restaurant and leader of the band. It was a big brown bear with a bit of stoutness, wearing a black top hat and bowtie. He would be seconded later by Bonnie, a purple rabbit playing the guitar, and Chica, a yellow chicken, the second singer in the band. Mr. Fazbear said he could slightly change the character to present her as loving eating pizzas. His pizzas, obviously. Foxy wouldn’t be on the main stage. In the cartoon, he was the main antagonist before he became an anti-hero following the band on tour, ready for all mischief to compete against Freddy, his main rival. He wasn’t singing, but he was a great actor.

The second big innovation was, finally, the launch of the springlock suits. William now wandered inside the building dressed as Spring Bonnie from time to time, mainly during the shows. His duo, Spring Freddy, well Golden Freddy now, was still backstage waiting his hour. Despite many ads in the local newspapers, William struggled to find employees. Many students helped when they could, but a lot of them had to leave to focus on school or go back to their families during their vacations. William was still hoping for people wanting to work full time at the dinner. 

As soon as he found a performer, Golden Freddy would replace Fredbear on the stage. His first robot was starting to show signs of deterioration, especially his jaw area. William feared to put his hand inside his mouth since the endoskeleton snapped shut on his arm, breaking it and forcing him to stop working on the robots for two months. The bear’s mechanisms were not aging well. Added to that, he kept overheating during the shows to the point he could sometimes smoke in front of the clients, forcing William to not use him as much as he used to for the shows.

William made another big decision during these few months of working: he packed the Marionette in a box and threw it in a garbage dump. With his wife and his children around, he was not at ease knowing this monstrosity could roam freely in the building. Now rid of his main problem, William was thriving. 

It seemed like nothing happened and the pizzeria finally felt like it was on the first opening day.

Nothing could stop the machine now. Well… Almost nothing.

That day, George went home early from school. 

His teacher fell sick during class, and the school didn’t find anyone to replace her, so the students had been authorized to leave. Now six and a half, his parents said he was big enough to walk alone to his dad’s pizzeria, situated right at the end of the street. As long as he didn’t cross the road, nothing could happen to him. George wasn’t sure he was big enough to go home alone, so his dad gave him that big plushie looking like Fredbear to protect him. Hugging it close to his heart, George was certain nothing bad could happen to him. 

Early this morning, his dad explained that Mommy and he had to go see the doctor so Dad could finally have his plaster taken off. He would be alone in the pizzeria, but Dad prepared some waffles for him. They were in the fridge. He wouldn’t be alone for too long. The big needle on the clock had to make a full circle and then Elizabeth would join him to play some video games on the arcade machines. He liked video games. As long as he could play Pac-Man, he didn’t care about being alone for a little while.

The young boy triumphantly brandished the key as he approached the pizzeria. He unlocked the door, entered the building, and immediately locked it behind him as his Dad asked him to. He walked to the dining room and switched on the lights, then continued on his way to the main stage. He froze in front of Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, astonished by their size. They were a bit scary like that, standing still and staring at the emptiness. George preferred it when they were moving with other kids around to keep him company. Alone, it seemed they could swallow him all, and no one would know.

He sniffed, then hugged his plushie against him a little closer. He threw a rapid glance towards the kitchen door, then sprinted toward it, fleeing the robots’ dead eyes.

Relieved and out of their sight, he calmed down and turned toward the fridge. He opened it and grabbed the big plate of waffles in front of his eyes. He closed the door with his foot and froze. The back door was slightly open. Uneasy, he wondered if he should warn his dad or not, and then decided it was probably not that important. Maybe he forgot to close it.

He lifted the plate with a hand above his head, the second still holding his plushie, and walked back to the dining room. He dropped everything on a table, then pulled a chair to sit down, his back turned from the robots to not see them. He got rid of the tinfoil, then grabbed a waffle, his stomach gurgling with hunger.

As he brought the waffle to his lips, a door creaked. 

Surprised, George dropped his snack and stood up, suddenly suspicious. For quite a while now, his big brother Michael found a new game: he was hiding, and when George least expected it, he would lunge at him to scare him from behind a piece of furniture with his dumb Foxy mask. Dad already asked him to stop doing that, but he didn’t care.

“Mike, are you there?” He called in a small voice, terrified. 

No one answered, but the creaking stopped. George tip-toed toward the entrance of the room and hid behind the wall. In the opposite corridor, the one leading to the offices, he noticed one door was partially opened, the one next to his Dad’s office. He didn’t know what was in this room, his Dad said Elizabeth and he couldn’t play in this area of the restaurant. He didn’t know whether it was already like this when he arrived or not. 

Worried, he clenched his arms tighter around his teddy bear and approached the open door, nervous.

A man was standing there, turning away from him. On a chair in the middle of the room, a boy from his school was tied up. George saw him leave earlier, as they had the same teacher. He never talked to him though. The blond boy with his big glasses noticed him immediately and agitated on the chair. He tried to call for help, but he had a big rope in the mouth, forbidding him to talk.

The man in front of him frowned. He grabbed a baseball bat and brutally slammed it on the boy’s head. George took a step back, shocked. A bit of blood splashed across the room, he even received some on his shoes. The man wasn’t over yet, however. He grabbed a big knife and, as the child convulsed on the chair, he stabbed him in the stomach, repeatedly. The blond boy’s eyes bulged. 

The stranger took a step back and turned toward the door.

George realized the gravity of the situation. Instinctively, he ran to the big wardrobe at the end of the corridor and closed the door. Through the keyhole, he saw the man look out of the room. The boy put his two hands on his mouth. He knew that man. It was Henry Emily, his father’s friend. The man scanned the corridor, then left toward the dining room. 

George hesitated, then slowly got out of his hiding place. He stayed still, scared the man might still be around, then he walked to the now wide opened door. He entered the desk.

Blood was slowly spreading all around under the chair. George pushed the boy’s arm to tell him he was there, but he wasn’t moving anymore, eyes wide open. Paralyzed with fear, George understood he was dead.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

George turned around. His eyes filled with tears as he saw the murderer staring at him. He was blocking the only way out, his bloody baseball bat in his hand, threatening. George took a step back, terrified. He tripped on the dead boy’s legs and barely avoided falling face-first into the pool of blood. The chair fell in a loud sound that echoed through the entire restaurant. 

The man suddenly straightened, panicked. He waited a few seconds, making sure no one heard that.

“Listen, kid, I don’t have any time for you and I don’t want to hurt your father’s feelings. But trust me, if you tell anyone what you saw here, things will get very, very bad for you.”

He snagged the child by the throat, lifting him off the floor. George whimpered, suddenly bursting into tears.

“Did you understand what I just said, Mr. Afton? If you tell your father…”

He grabbed his head, forcing him to watch the dead body on the floor.

“You’ll end up like that as well.”

Terrified, George nodded vigorously. The man smiled. He picked him up under the arms, opened the wardrobe at the end of the corridor, the same one he was hiding in a few minutes earlier, then threw him inside violently. Henry put a finger on his mouth to remind him to stay silent. He closed the door and locked it. He pulled the key away and threw it toward the dining room. 

He had other things to do.

Henry still had to clean the mess before William’s and the kid’s siblings' arrival. Except for that little incident, everything went according to plan. All he had to do was to put the child’s body inside the robot prototype he built in the garbage dump, not far from the pizzeria, and hoping he would move like her. Like the Marionette.

If everything worked as it should, he could start experimenting to find a way to bring his daughter back to life and fix his mistake. He could still do it, he was certain of it. 

Henry picked up the body and carried it to his car, parked behind the kitchen door. He then returned to clean the blood meticulously with some products he took with him. No one would know, except the boy. 

Henry hesitated a moment in front of the wardrobe, where faint cries could be heard. Should he kill him too? Having a witness was scary, but also a bit exciting. 

No, the child was fragile and could be manipulated easily. He would simply pressure him by showing up in front of the school from time to time to scare him enough for him to stay silent. 

He wasn’t strong enough to destroy the life of his best friend, even though, ironically, he chose to commit his murder in the pizzeria to accuse him in case something went wrong. 

He pushed William’s office door and checked the cameras. As planned, William switched them off, so the children didn’t trigger the alarm system while he was off. Henry planned everything, hidden in the only place William would never think to look: the bathroom sewers, where he broke in. He didn’t really have a choice; William changed all the locks. 

He put the sewer trap door in place, then left by the kitchen door. He closed it behind him, then jumped in his car. He took off at full throttle, driving away from the restaurant as fast as he could.