The Fall of the Aftons

053: Michael Afton

When Michael walked over to the playground, Evan was waiting for him outside the back entrance of the Center. Miss Iaea stood next to the little boy, laughing as Evan did a silly jig.

"Where is Felicity?" Michael asked when he joined the two. He lifted Evan from the ground and rested him on his hip. "Was she finally adopted?"

Miss Iaea gave a sad smile and nodded her head, her hands on her heart. "Yes, she was adopted. She was so excited. But before she left, she wanted me to ask if you'd take care of little Evan here. She said he's constantly having nightmares, so he's usually skittish and jumpy."

"Of course, I will! Don't worry," Michael told her with a grin. "Is he running or talking yet?"

"Oh, jeez, the running is annoying. He's constantly running everywhere!" She laughs. Her laughs were always these big, bubbly belly laughs. It made her seem more trustworthy. "But talking? No. He's not talking yet. He's still young, though, so don't worry." She chuckled and lightly booped Evan on the nose. The boy stuck his tongue out in surprise, but he was quick to giggle. "Do you want to play tag with him while you wait for your dad? Felicity taught him how to play last week--now he's doing it with everyone, even when a game isn't going on." She laughed again.

Michael laughed, too, and gently set Evan on the ground. "Would you like to play tag, Evan?"

Evan grinned and exclaimed happily. Michael walked across the street, Evan's hand in his, before he darted off. He could hear the little boy's tiny footsteps behind him. The two of them ran around for about ten minutes, but Evan couldn't catch him before William arrived.

"I thought you weren't allowed to run," William said once Michael got in his car.

"Evan just learned how to run a few days ago! I couldn't help myself," Michael replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Are we going to Fazbear's or Fredbear's today? Noah said that he is going to Fredbear's after school, so I was curious if I could meet him there."

"Sorry, bud, I'm at Fazbear's today. Henry is at Fredbear's, though, so maybe he'll watch you. We'll go over there and see, okay?"

Michael grinned. "Okay!"

~ ~ ~

Michael gently pushed a quarter into the coin slot of the arcade game and stood up, then pressed the Start button on the game. He shoved the joystick side to side and spammed the only other button on the machine, watching as the tiny spaceship on the pixel-y screen blew up the bad spaceships.

All of a sudden, someone embraced him from behind, their arms wrapping around his neck. Michael bit back a squeal and started to flail, trying to get the person to let go. But they only let go when he accidentally elbowed them in the gut.

"Ow!" a familiar voice cried.

Michael slammed the Start button to pause his game and spun around, his eyes landing on Noah. He was hunched over, hugging his stomach.

Michael gasped. "Oh, no! Noah, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry. You came out of nowhere and I thought..." Michael's words trailed off when he noticed Noah was laughing. "What... What's so funny?"

"I wasn't expecting to be elbowed the minute I greet you," Noah answered cheerfully, laughter filling his words.

"I'm so, so sorry--I just--It doesn't--I don't..." He sighed, then leaned back on the arcade game. He closed his eyes when he saw Noah staring at him with curiosity. "I can't talk about it. Not... not yet. It's s-still too... too fresh." He sighed again. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep secrets from you, it's just that--"

Michael was suddenly enveloped in a hug and his eyes snapped open. Noah, unsurprisingly, was the one embracing him in a soft, comforting hug.

"It's fine, Mikey. Don't worry about it," Noah mumbled kindly.

~ ~ ~

Michael sat at his desk, doodling in the margins of one of his school notebooks. He'd finished his homework an hour and a half ago, but the winds outside were too strong and too cold and he accidentally left his book at school. So now he sat uncomfortably in his chair, half slumped over his desk, his leg falling asleep as he doodled away and hummed "Hush, Little Baby." He couldn't help it--the sweet lullaby was stuck in his head. He didn't know why, but it was. 

Somebody knocked on Michael's bedroom door, startling him out of his boredom trance. He looked to the door and saw William standing in the doorway with a small smile.

"Hey, kiddo. What're you up to?" William asked softly.

"Just doodling," Michael answered quietly as he set his pencil on his desk. "Do you need something?"

William shook his head. "I came to check in on you. You had said a week or two ago that you felt as if you were being ignored a lot of the time, so..."

He completely forgot about that. So much had happened recently.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I'm fine right now. I have your gun if the kidnapper comes." He looked at the small pistol next to him, then looked back at his father.

William sighed. "You're still worrying about that? Michael, he's not coming back."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. The police called the other day, remember? They found the man. He's in jail, awaiting punishment."

"And I told you that it isn't him! He had lighter hair than him and darker eyes. The man in jail right now is not the right guy!" Michael exclaimed desperately. His eyes started to well with tears and he wrapped his arms around himself.

William walked further into the room and shut the door behind him. He went over to Michael and crouched down in front of him. "Michael, what happened that night?"

Michael looked away and wiped his eyes. "I-I can't talk about that. It scares me too much."

"I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"I don't need help!"

William sighed, then stood up and lifted Michael from his chair. He carried Michael over to his bed and sat him down in the center of the mattress before he took a seat on the edge of it.

"Michael, you have to tell someone what happened eventually. If you don't tell anyone, you're going to keep having these panic attacks in large crowds and no one's going to know what's wrong." He lifted Michael's Fredbear plush from the beside table and handed him to Michael.

Michael hesitantly took him and hugged his precious stuffed animal tightly.

"So what happened?" William nudged.

Michael paused, staring at Fredbear's floppy purple felt hat. "I..." He started. He was struggling to get the words out, so he swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I woke up when I heard small thumps on the roof. I didn't think much of it at first, so I tried to go back to sleep. But then the man jumped onto the porch, so I called for you, but I didn't yell loud enough. Then the man broke the window and came over to me. I tried to get off of my bed so I wouldn't be so vulnerable, but I got tangled in my sheets and the man grabbed me. I fought against his grip so he would drop me, but it was worthless. He threw me to the other side of the room and I landed in the glass. Almost as soon as I stood up, I tried to get the glass out of my shoulder, but he grabbed me again. This time I succeeded to get out of his grip, but I landed on my back, which is how the glass got stuck inside of my shoulder. That's when I called for you again, and then I stood up and ran to the corner, trying to get away from him. He was trying to get closer to me, and I tried to keep him away, but I ran into the wall.  And then you came in, and everything after that happened."

"Gosh," William mumbled. He dragged Michael into a sideways hug, rubbing his back soothingly. "No wonder you're afraid of him coming back."

"Mmhmm." Michael rested his head on William's shoulder and hugged his plush tighter. "It was petrifying," he murmured. "And it still is whenever I think about it."

"I'm so sorry, Mike."

"It's... It's fine. It's not your fault."

A chill ran down Michael's spine--the broken window on the porch door was going to be replaced tomorrow, so right now it was covered with a tarp--and he curled up against his father. His heavy, tired eyelids closed. He fell asleep moments later.