The Fall of the Aftons

135: Michael Afton

"Mikey?" Evan's quiet voice asked through Michael's bedroom door. He quietly pushed open the door, stepping inside. "Mikey, are you awake?"

Michael yawned and he sat up, dragging a hand down his tired face. "Ev, you gotta go back to bed," he mumbled tiredly. "You're never going to conquer these nightmares of yours if you don't stop hiding from them."

"B-But, Mike! Y-You know that they're r-real! P-Please, Mike, I-I-I've slept in my room th-the p-past two days! I-I-I just need a break, I've barely been getting any sleep! Please?"

Michael sighed, frowning. "I know, bud... But you know what William said, he doesn't want you sleeping in my room anymore."

"But—"

"Go, Evan!" Michael demanded, pointing to the door. It broke his heart to watch his little brother leave so disappointed, he couldn't let Evan sleep in his room anymore. Not only did William tell Evan that he needed to "stop being so clingy and reliant on Michael to solve everything," but he was struggling with his own nightmares. Not the ones that Evan dealt with. Different ones. Real ones.

Ones that could become reality.

Two days ago, Mark had Simon pass Michael a note at school, informing him about a plan to prank Evan at his upcoming birthday party. All four of them were scheduled to work at Fredbear's that day, which was where Evan was having his party since it was closer to home, so they would have to stop working to pull the prank. That would already get them in trouble with William and Henry. But that wasn't even the worst part.

The first half of the prank was fine; they were simply going to pick Evan up and bring him on stage to hold him near Fredbear since he was afraid of the actual animatronics. It would get them in more trouble, but Evan would be safe.

It was the second half that wasn't fine.

Mark was still debating if they should do the second part or not, but so far, he was leaning towards going through with it. And the second part was extremely dangerous.

Michael had tried to explain that they shouldn't do the prank, but Mark wouldn't listen to him. Mark even threatened to springlock him again if he refused, even though he hadn't springlocked him in years. But because of all the damage Mark had done to Michael's arms with the previous springlocking incidents, if he was springlocked one more time, he was risking losing his entire arm.

Both Evan and Michael were in danger. He was at a stalemate. When he warned Evan about the prank, Evan told him to do it because he didn't want Michael to lose an arm. But if he went through with it, he risked Evan's life. He couldn't lose someone else he cared about—especially not one of his siblings. He'd already lost four of his closest friends. He couldn't lose anyone else. But how was he supposed to keep Evan safe if the prank could be lethal?