when night comes ━━ mike schmidt

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WHEN NIGHT COMES / Chapter Twelve

When the four arrived at Freddy's that night, they pulled up next to a police car. Mike and Zion exchanged a confused glance, wondering if they were in trouble, or if they were getting another unnecessary visit.

"Vanessa's here!" Abby exclaimed, "My friends talked about her. They said she's nice and that they've been friends for a long time."

"Hey Abby, if I asked you to wait in the car, would you?" Mike said almost nervously.

"No," The girl replied simply before running off ahead.

The other three followed her slowly. Mike and Zion were reluctant to enter the building again after they discovered the haunted animatronics, and Mía was clutching her sister's hand, nervous.

"Hi, Vanessa!" Abby exclaimed with a wave as she rushed toward the performance stage to stand beside the woman.

"Hey, Abby," Vanessa smiled. She turned from the stage as if shaken out of a trance, her gaze torn away from the animatronics and toward the three who had just entered, "Hey, guys, nice to see you again."

Zion wished she could say the same. She greeted the cop with a nod before she felt someone tugging on her wrist. Turning, she found Mía staring up at her with an anxious expression.

Crouching to the girl's height, Zion smiled sadly at her, "Is the elephant back?" Upon her sister's nod, Zion pulled her into a hug, "That's okay, honey, you don't need to speak."

Mike crouched down as well, "Is she okay?"

Mía pulled away from her sister to give Mike a thumbs up. Then, back to her usual antics, she raised her hand above Mike's head before connecting it to her own head, giggling.

"I am not that small, you're lying," Mike scowled playfully at her, immediately realising what she was getting at.

"Hey, guys," Vanessa said a bit louder to prompt a response. She looked toward Mía and smiled, "Hi! You're Zion's sister, right? What's your name?"

Mía stayed silent and hid behind her sister's leg.

"Her name's Mía, she doesn't talk much. She's selectively mute." Zion told the cop.

Vanessa nodded, "Oh, I see. Well, I've learnt a bit of sign language before." She made a gesture that caused Mía to burst out laughing.

Zion had to force herself not to laugh either, "That's...You signed something not for kids."

Vanessa blinked in surprise and glanced down at her hands, "Oh. I was told that meant 'how are you?'"

"Who was your teacher?"

Vanessa shuffled her feet, sheepish, "Some kids I arrested a while back."

"That's why you don't believe everything you're taught," Zion remarked smugly before her tone turned sarcastic, "Thanks for the warning, by the way. You know, about dead children haunting the animatronics."

"Would you have believed me if I told you?" Vanessa returned.

"Guess we'll never know," Zion shot back, not attempting to hide the glare she shot the woman's way.

"Guys, we need help!"

The three looked over to where Abby was stood on the performance stage, the animatronics whirring behind her. Once they'd headed over, Abby held out a notepad with a scribbled drawing of a child's fort for them to see.

"It needs to be big so we can all fit inside," Abby told them.

Mía glanced up at the animatronics, who were peering over them, before signing, "That'll be hard."