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

Ȩ̷̖̲͆I̸͚͔̽̓͂͑̇ͅḠ̵̡͙̘͜H̶͎̞͌T̶̠̬̘͛̂͂́͜

  The bear's afternoon had been relatively quiet. The shop he was employed at was currently undergoing renovations, therefore resulting in the handful of workers' hours being cut—but not their pay, thankfully. Fredrick didn't mind this in the slightest, after all, who wouldn't enjoy have payed time off for a few days? That simply meant more time to work on his hobby—painting. There was something oddly calming, and therapeutic about making paintings.

The quiet of the afternoon came to a surprising stop when the sound of someone knocking on his apartment door sounded. Placing his paint brush down, Fred got up to check the door. He was met with his brother, Bonbell. The bunny had a familiar look of distraught in his emerald eyes, and he looked to be disheveled. Almost as if he'd gotten in some kind of scuffle. His hands were dirtied in—was that dirt? Sighing, the bear stood aside to let Bon in.

"What happened?" Fred asked—for the umpteenth time now. Bon said nothing, and made his way towards the living room. "Bon?" Still no answer. The bunny simply sat down on the couch. Approaching him, Fred watched as his brother let himself fall onto his side against the couch's cushions. "... Bonbell?"

"... D-Don't wanna... talk 'bout it..." He mumbled, before turning to lay on his other side—facing the back of the couch. Judging by the bunny's behavior, Fred was able to deduce that whatever it was bothering Bon—besides the obvious of what the bear was aware of—was something he didn't want to talk about. However, he didn't want to be alone either. Hence Bon turning up at the bear's door. "Well, I haven't anywhere to be today, so stay as long as you need." Fred graciously offered, before quietly returning to continue the painting he'd been working on.

The day continued to pass, with Bon remaining curled up on Fred's living room couch. He hadn't moved a single muscle, except when he breathed, and the occasional ear or tail twitch. The bear would continue to offer his ear to the bunny, or even something to eat or drink. Every time, Bon declined the offers and remained where he was laying.

Soon enough, the sun began to set, as afternoon made way to evening. By now, the bear was fixing to get ready to turn in for the night. Turning off the light in the humble-sized kitchen, Fred spoke up again. "Like I said before, you're welcome to stay." He began, entering the living room. "But, would you at least want a blanket, or even an extra pillow?" A beat of silence. "...no."

"Very well, then." Fred said with a concerned sigh, before heading towards his bedroom nearby. "... Fred?" He paused, and turned to look at Bon. "... lock your door." The bear cocked his head ever-so-slightly in a puzzled manner. "Pardon?"

"... lock your bedroom door... please." Fred was silent for a minute, unsure why Bon would make such a request... and if he ought to be concerned. "... If you insist." He finally said. Continuing to his room, he called back again with, "Good night." It was met with no response.

~~~

The next morning, after having slept with his door locked, Fred found Bon still on the couch. If he did happen to move from that spot at all, it wasn't noticeable. With a small shake of his head, the bear quietly greeted with, "Good morning." Surprisingly, that was met with the bunny briefly looking over his shoulder to him. Bon seemed confused for a moment, almost as if the fact it were morning was surprising to him. He quietly mumbled something to his brother as he layed back down.

Making his way into the kitchen, Fred put water on to boil for a cup of his usual morning tea. While waiting for that, he went to pick out a ceramic mug and a tea bag of black tea. Putting the objects down on the counter by the electric kettle, Fred then shot another glance back out to the living room. Bon hadn't yet moved again.

Continuing to wait on the water to heat up, Fred took out his phone and wrote up a text. The water began to boil just as he pressed 'send'. Putting his phone aside, Fred poured the water into his mug, and placed the tea bag into the mug. Then, he placed it onto the small kitchen table. Giving it a moment to seep and cool off, the bear went back to the living room.

"I'd offer you breakfast, but Toy is on her way over with some." Bon finally moved to look over his shoulder to his brother again. "... she is?" Fred nodded. "... oh." Bon quietly said, before facing the back of the couch again. Fred blinked, before returning to drink his tea before it got too cold.

Fred was almost finished his tea when Toy came knocking on his door. "It's unlocked." He called, followed by Toy letting herself in. She had a paper to-go bag in hand, that she placed on the table upon entering the kitchen. "Hey, Fred!" She greeted happily, before looking about for Bon—who Fred had texted her about earlier in the morning. Toy nearly missed his form laying on the couch, but she did finally notice him. "Bon?"

"...mm... hi." Bon greeted pathetically, not bothering to look at her. "Fred asked me to bring some extra food for you, if you're hungry." No response. "He's been that way since yesterday." Fred quietly told her, taking his share of the food. "Oh, I see..." Toy quietly responded, taking her own portion. She sat down, and began eating.

"So, remind me why we couldn't do this at the café?" Swallowing her food, Toy's demeanor dropped. Looking to her brother, she said, "Freddy told us the café will be closed for the next while." She explained, taking a bite of a hash brown. Fred still had a puzzled look on his face. "Did he say why?" The bear wondered. "Oh- You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Chica got attacked in the alley behind the café." Toy explained, seeing her brother's eyes widen. "It was pretty bad from what I heard." She added. "Oh my... that's terrible! Is-" Fred got cut off by Bon suddenly speaking up. "Is she alright?? Is she alive?!" The two looked towards him. He was suddenly sat upright on the couch—they hadn't noticed him moving, surprisingly. There was a bit of an awkward pause, though it was more of a shocked pause for Fred, as that was the most Bon had said since the previous day.

"... Yeah." Toy slowly began. "Yeah, no, she's fine. She's in the hospital." She explained, before equally as slowly taking another bite of her food. The two watched as Bon's gaze fell to the floor, and what looked to be relief washing over him. "Bon...?" Toy asked, thought she was unsure how she wanted to ask the question on her mind.

Before she could try, Bonbell slowly got off the couch. He made his way into the kitchen, and gathered up his portion of breakfast from off the table. "What are you doing?" Fred asked him. "I... should be going." Bon simply answered. "You don't have to, Bon." Toy assured him. The bunny gave a small shake of his head. "I have to..." He continued to the door, looking to have suddenly remembered he didn't bring any sweater with him to the apartment. Unbeknownst to Toy and Fred, the bunny had chucked it in a dumpster the day before.

"Are you certain?" Fred wondered, feeling unsure about letting his brother be on his own—he was just acting so... strange. "Yeah..." Bon answered, before opening the door. "Thanks for the breakfast..." Without another word, the bunny left. Toy and Fredrick exchanged confused and worried glances.

~~~

A.N. Holy crapola... I was looking over the word count of the last two chapters... they're all the same as this chapter, which is 1250~. That's crazy xD Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. It feels shorter than it actually is, probably because it's a bit more simple. A lot less action for sure, but don't worry, that'll start up again soon. Next chapter will be... between boxing day and the first week of the new year.

I wanna thank @FrazelFan09 again for the wonderful fan cover she made for COTS. If you haven't seen it, it's on the teaser chapter in this book. Check it out, it's so cool! :D Thanks again, girl!