CALL OF THE SHADOW [Freedom AU Book Eight]{FNAF/UT}

F̷̲̥̻̽̍͊̕O̵̩̿̇̔͗U̴̼̼̦͂̀̓͋̉R̴̨̕

   He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept that awfully. Sleeping while standing on his feet—from company days—was more rejuvenating than how the bunny had slept last night. One reason for his restlessness, was that he was anxious to get something stronger than his current prescribed meds to make his problem go away.

The other, was that said problem kept pestering him in his sleep—in his dreams. To add insult to injury, as soon as Bon would wake up from the nightmares, the shadow would be nowhere to be seen. So, the bunny would sit up in bed for a few minutes, and once his guard would lower, he'd try sleeping again—only to be met with the thing's piercing white eyes and isolating shadow.

The next day, Bonbell called the clinic saying he needed the next day or two off.

Then, he went to see if he could get his prescription adjusted.

That evening, he took the prescribed dose and waited patiently for a minute--staring at his reflection in the mirror for several minutes straight. Nothing. There was nothing. It worked! Bonbell triumphantly thought to himself, postured finally relaxing. He went about the rest of the evening, before going to sleep.

He still had nightmares in his sleep, but at least now they were 'normal' nightmares. The kind anyone could have. Hopefully, in time, they'd slowly come to be a no-longer-common occurrence, just like they had been before.

~~~

Today was going to be just a regular day. Fredrick was to wrap up a couple of completed commissions to be sent out to those who had commissioned them, then he was going to stop by the Café for a small lunch, before meeting up with Foxy and Vixen at the park with the twins—Jesse and Junior. The bear had agreed to spend the afternoon with his niece and nephew, so as the fox couple could have a quiet afternoon for themselves.

Fred was nearly finished wrapping up the final commission, when an almost frantic knocking sounded from his apartment door. Putting down what he was doing, the bear went to answer the door. Standing there, was Bonbell—his brother. The bright blue bunny looked a bit disheveled, almost as if he hadn't slept properly in days. He also appeared to be shaking a bit—though, subtly.

"Oh, good morning, Bon." Fredrick greeted, giving the other a half-smile. Bon said nothing in response, all but inviting himself in. "Is something the matter?" The bunny gave a quick and small nod. "What is it?" Walking into the kitchen, Bon pulled something out of his sweater pocket. He placed the small prescription bottle onto the counter. "It's not working."

"... What?" Fredrick gave his brother a slightly concerned look, picking up on why the bunny seemed distressed. Bon's emerald green eyes looked up to him. He gestured to the bottle. "I-It's not working, Fred!" Bon repeated, his voice slowly raising. "They're supposed to stop the voice, but they don't work anymore!" Taking a step closer to him, the bear placed a hand on his shoulder in a calming manner. "Don't panic. You've absolutely nothing to panic about!"

"But...!"

"It's be alright." The bear told him, his English tone sounding so certain. Almost as if he were stating a fact. "Take a breath." Fredrick then instructed, placing his other hand on Bon's other shoulder. Bon simply stared at his brother for a moment—nose twitching rapidly from stress and anxiety—before he did as he was told. He slowly took a deep breath, and tried to relax himself.

"W-What do I do?" Bon quietly answered, his voice still a bit shaky. "How bad is it?" Fred wondered, bringing his hands off the bunny's shoulders. Slowly wrapping his arms around himself, Bonbell gave a small shrug of hesitation. "... Worse than before." He simply said—ignoring the looming shadow that was in his peripheral vision. He heard the bear let out a thoughtful sigh. "I'll call your therapist."

"... Okay." Bon simply mumbled, his posture slouching. Fred tried to catch his brother's gaze once more. "It'll be alright."

~~~

A.N Gotta love you that supportive and helpful big brother-

Next chapter will be out tomorrow, as it is 98% completed. I'll probably end up having chapter six completed for the day after too, and then chapters will slow a bit--as the Christmas season is upon us~

I'm gonna try my best to make these chapters a little longer. It'll probably end up being long, to short, to long, to the end, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I at least try to keep chapters longer than 530/550 words. Any lower, and I don't post it—instead, I obviously rework it to make it longer. I'm really trying to exercise my creativity with this one.