The Fall of the Aftons

067: Michael Afton

The words bounced and ricocheted around Michael's head for a few seconds.

He knows?! How does he know? What will he do? What's going to happen to me? He'll hate me for sure! What is he going to do? Will he drop me at the Center? Will he ground me? Is he going to shout at me? Is he going to hurt me?

William gently tapped Michael's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked softly.

"How do you know that I'm his killer?" Michael asked, surprised yet worried.

He laughed. "It's not hard to guess. No sane person would follow Terrance up three stories into your bedroom, shoot him, then climb back down. I don't think it's physically possible, either. Besides, I remember that you took my gun instead of the knife that night--and I'm missing a bullet."

Tears he'd been so desperately trying to hold back spilled out at an extremely fast rate. Sobs forced themselves out of him as he sort of doubled over, curling into a tighter ball. "I'm so sorry, William! I didn't mean to kill him--I swear it on my life, I didn't mean to--he just scared me and I reacted poorly--I'm so sorry! I don't care if you hate me for the rest of my life, just please don't send me back to the Center!"

"Oh, Michael," William said sadly. He pulled Michael into a sideways hug. "It's not your fault. I know that you didn't mean to. It was an accident." He pulled Michael in closer and wiped some of the tears off of Michael's cheek. "I will never send you back to the Center. That's just cruel. And I could never hate you." He chuckled softly. "I know that you tend to go straight to the worst things. I struggle with that, too. But it's not a good thing, to immediately assume the worst."

"I-I'm sorry. I don't m-mean to go straight to the worst th-things."

"It's all right, buddy. It just means that you're not an optimist like Henry." He chuckled, then sighed sadly. "Please don't blame yourself. You didn't mean to kill him. You were just trying to defend yourself. His death wasn't your fault."

"B-Bu-But I w-was the one who s-sh-shot the gun! I-I-I w-was the one wh-who held it up and p-pu-pulled the t-trigger!" Michael cried aloud between violent sobs. "I k-k-killed him! I don't d-deserve your l-lo-love. I n-never even deserved it i-in the f-first place..." Hesitantly, he pulled away, then pulled his knees back up to his chest as he looked away.

"Michael Afton!" William exclaimed, bewildered and irritated. "That is the furthest thing from the truth that I have ever heard come from your mouth. Everybody deserves love, no matter what."

"I-I certainly d-don't," he mumbled as he rested his head on his knees. "I n-never did a-anything to deserve it."

"Yes, you have, Michael. You're an amazing kid. You've done so many things to deserve love," William insisted. He slowly stood up and carefully lifted Michael off of the ground before he brought the little boy over to his bed, but he didn't set him down yet. "You are one of the sweetest little boys I have ever met. You give so much love and care to others, not expecting anything in return. Not very many people can do that. Most people are too greedy."

"I-It doesn't f-feel like I deserve any l-love."

"That's because you're only looking at the bad things you've done. You're not taking into account any of the good things that you've done."

"I-I-I just k-ki-killed someone! T-Th-That's one of the w-worst things that someone can do, a-and I've already done it at age eight!" His sobs started to grow violent. William sighed and set him down. He grabbed Fredbear from his nightstand and held him close to his chest. "I don't want t-to talk about th-this anymore..."

"Nuh-uh, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

"I-I-I just want to be a-alone," he mumbled sadly. "And I d-don't want your comfort. N-Not th-that I'm trying to be rude! I just... I j-just need some time alone."

"If I leave you alone, you better not do anything stupid."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."