The Fall of the Aftons

165: Michael Afton

Michael sat in the passenger seat of Noah's car, staring out the window at the entrance of the graveyard. He didn't know why, but he was nervous to see everybody's graves. He hadn't seen everybody's graves in weeks. He had a dreaded feeling in his gut about this, as if something bad was going to happen—especially when he thought about seeing his brother's grave.

Noah rested his hand on Michael's shoulder, trying to get his distance. "You ready, my prince?"

Michael blushed. "You're never going to give up on that nickname, are you?"

"Nope!"

He sighed, then grabbed the car door handle and pulled it open, getting out of the car. "Let's go."

Michael and Noah walked down the pathways of the graveyard, glancing over the graves as they made their way to his friends and family's. But suddenly, Michael stopped walking when he saw a familiar name on one of the graves.

Aster Joseph Song

November 2nd, 1957

October 19th, 1974

Why was that name so familiar? He didn't remember anyone with that name... If he didn't know anyone with that name, why was it so familiar?

"Are you okay?" Noah asked, turning around to look at him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. "The name on this grave just sounds oddly familiar..."

"Aster Joseph Song," Noah read aloud. "Why wouldn't that name sound familiar? He's your brother, Mikey—of course, his name sounds familiar."

"That's not my brother," Michael muttered, confused. "Evan is my brother."

Noah's expression suddenly morphed into one of worry. "Yes, Mikey, Aster is your brother." He grabbed Michael's chin, inspecting his face. "Are you feeling okay? Did you hit your head or something? Should we get you checked out?"

"I'm fine," he said, pushing Noah's hand away. "I didn't hit my head."

"Then why can't you remember your brother?"

"He's not my brother, Noah."

"Yes, he is, Michael! He's your eldest brother—you were three when he died."

"Noah, I'm the eldest brother in my family," he said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Why was Noah insisting a stranger was his brother?

"In your adoptive family, yes. But in your birth family, you're the youngest."

Michael froze at the mention of his birth family. "I don't... I don't remember my birth family," he admitted as he stepped back and hugged himself, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "I lose most of my childhood memories in '83."

Noah frowned. "What do you mean? Were you hurt at work or something?"

"You've heard of the Bite of '83, right?"

"The story your father and Henry made up to keep kids from getting too close to the animatronics?" he asked, blinking in surprise. He probably wondered where Michael was going with this.

"It's not just a story, it actually happened," Michael explained.

"Wow... That poor kid..." Noah mumbled, looking away in disappointment.

"You realize that kid was me, right?"

Noah took a step away from him, taken aback by the words. Suddenly nervous, Michael did the same, taking a few extra steps to give Noah some space.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked quietly when Noah's breathing started to become shallow and quick.

"You're... Y-You're dead! H-H-How are you here?!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with panic and hysteria.

Michael could feel laughter trying to bubble up in his throat. "What? What in the world are you talking about? I'm not dead—I'm obviously alive," he explained, motioning to himself.

"But in the story I heard, the victim died! I-I-If you're the victim, how are you still here?!"

Michael stepped closer to Noah, taking his boyfriend's hand and putting it on his neck. "Noah, you can feel my heart breathing. You can see and hear that I'm breathing. I'm not dead, and I won't be dying anytime soon," he assured him, speaking softly. "Somebody probably had the wrong information and that's what you heard. Or you're mixing up the stories from '83 and '87."

Noah seemed to calm ever-so-slightly at the physical contact. He pulled Michael in closer and felt all over his neck, trying to find his pulse. As soon as he felt Michael's pulse, he relaxed and took a few deep breaths, dragging Michael in closer so he could rest his forehead against his.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled a few moments later. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay," Michael promised, giving Noah a huge hug. "You didn't do anything wrong. You just had the wrong information. I'm sorry that I scared you like that."

"Don't be," he said quietly as he hugged Michael back, kissing his cheek. "You ready to go visit everybody's graves now?"

Michael pulled away from the hug, sighing heavily. "As ready as I'll ever be."