A Change in Fate

Chapter Five: The Daring Act

    Gregory is a bold little gremlin.

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     Gregory paced back and forth across the living room floor, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. "Don't think about it," he whispered. "Just don't think about it." But he couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering to the horrid suspicion that steadily grew in his gut. He stopped and glanced up at the clock. 7 p.m. He shook his head and let out a breath slowly through his nose. "He's coming back." How many times had he said that now? Even after forcing himself to sleep, when he awoke, Michael hadn't arrived. He was gone. Gregory clenched his jaw, resisting the thought, pushing it to the back of his mind. With a sudden cry of anger, he kicked the couch and sank to his knees. It had been almost twenty-four hours since Mike's shift started and quite a while since it was supposed to end; it was a miracle Gregory had even waited this long, yet somehow, he still wanted to. Michael had to return, right? It couldn't end like this.

    "Ugh." He gripped fistfuls of his hair. "Whatever. It shouldn't matter. Maybe he—" he choked on the word— "died, or maybe he just decided not to come back. He left me, just...just like I've been left behind before. Yeah." That didn't feel right though, nor make sense. Why would Michael simply abandon his house and all his belongings? Besides, he said he would come back, and had appeared so genuine during that entire conversation. It simply wasn't logical. There was only one other obvious answer, and that was the fact that Michael died; the animatronics killed him, just like they would have killed Gregory had Mike not saved him.

    "This is why you don't get attached to people, dummy," Gregory said, then immediately he cried, "I didn't get attached!" He smacked himself and cringed at the action. "I...I just wanted information, and I was tolerating him, so he wouldn't take me in." Sitting down on the couch, he drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. A small sigh escaped him. "Okay, maybe I liked him a little." But who could blame him? The first person to show any care, with no indication of deception whatsoever. How could Gregory not have at least grown a bit fond of the man in their short time together?

    Too short. This didn't feel right. In fact, it wasn't right. As much as Gregory wanted to leave, just go about his days on the streets and forget all this, he couldn't. After the incident with Freddy, his discovery last night, and now the disappearance of Michael, he knew he couldn't move on. He had been dragged straight into the horrifying mystery. But what can I do about it? he thought. Nothing. I should just leave. Forget Mike, forget Freddy, forget that...that stupid, idiotic, terrible Spring Bonnie guy and just...just... No, that didn't feel right.

    Gregory sat there silently for a bit. With a new resolve, he soon rose to his feet and once again entered Michael's room. There, he started rifling through all of Mike's research and notes, in search of anything having to do with Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. He found several things—articles about the original being shut down, and others about it reopening as a simple rental service. Along with it, some bizarre note where Mike had scrawled down all sorts of random facts about the animatronics, and something about...his father?

    "He says I have to put her back together," Gregory read off it. "He's right. I have to find her, put her back together. I just have to." That was the last thing he wrote, such randomness after something that had been at least slightly comprehensible. "Weird." He set it aside and kept searching. Just as he began to grow frustrated, he discovered a new note, attached to a map. The note was not written in Michael's hand, but rather, o-ne Gregory did not recognize.

    Here's the location. Do not get lost, like the idiot I know you are. Good luck with your new job. You know what you have to do.

    Don't be late.