A Change in Fate

Chapter Eight: The Truth

     Gregory fidgeted with his fingers, keeping his eyes fixed on his feet. Silence lay over the car, as it had for the past several minutes, ever since they exited Funtime Auditorium. It felt thick, impenetrable. He shifted around. It had taken him a while to recover from the repeated near-death experiences; he couldn't even properly speak to Michael, after he broke away from the hug. The man had tried questioning him a little, but seeing how shaken Gregory was, had given up and merely led him out of the building. Now they were on their way back, seated in the car without so much as speaking a word to each other. Gregory knew Michael wanted to. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept seeing the man glance over at him. He didn't blame Mike. After all, what had Gregory been doing there? Why was he inside Funtime Freddy? But Gregory had just as many, if not more, questions for Michael.

    Risking the action, Gregory shifted his eyes over to Mike and examined him. He hadn't been able to see him much in the consistent low lighting of the rental service, but in the glow of the headlights and passing streetlights, he could well enough. Michael looked positively exhausted, the shadows smudged beneath his eyes even darker than usual. His hair was a mess, and just a bit of crusted blood peeked out from under one of his brown locks. As his eyes trailed to Michael's hands, which tightly gripped the steering wheel, Gregory felt a surprising amount of alarm seeing blisters and cuts on nearly every fingertip.

    What the heck happened to him? he thought, unable to tear his eyes away. Blinking, Michael shifted his gaze to the side, meeting Gregory's. Hastily, he looked away. This ride was already tense and awkward enough. Prolonged eye contact was something he did not want. To his relief, Mike said nothing, pulling the car into the driveway. Gregory hurriedly unbuckled and threw open the door, before rushing into the comfort of the house. He had made sure to keep the front door unlocked for this very reason. Letting out his breath slowly, he flopped onto the couch. He tried to sort out his distant thoughts and ignored the sound of the front door opening and shutting again. Footsteps approached the couch. Gregory unwillingly tensed, the very sound setting his heart racing. With a gulp, he sat up as Michael settled on the couch beside him. Risking a glance, Gregory met Mike's tired eyes.

    "Are you alright?" he asked, gaze flicking between Gregory's face and the new bandage on his arm.

    "Um..." Gregory said. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was wondering the same about you."

    Michael's lips tightened. "What were you doing down there?"

    Gregory swallowed. "Well, I...I, uh...I was worried about you or whatever, and I wanted to figure some stuff out." He jerked his shoulders into a shrug. "I just meant to investigate the outside, but then I went inside, and I...I went down there. I swear, I didn't mean to stay long. I just wanted to look a little, but things happened." He cringed, hating the thought of what occurred in the unfamiliar surroundings of the dark building. "A lot of things."

    "What did?" Michael asked, his tone of voice having not changed. It certainly held some concern to it, but it also sounded tight and was layered with a tone Gregory couldn't quite pick out...but it made him nervous.

    Figuring the sooner he got his explanation over with, the sooner her could question Mike, Gregory rushed out, "Um...well, first, I was almost caught by the two technicians. Then when I went down there, that creepy Circus Baby talked to me. Then the Bidybabs or whatever attacked me, so I ran. I ended up in Ballora Gallery and I had to escape both of them and dumb old Ballora, and after that, I was actually caught by those technicians and the security guard." He paused, struggling with his memory. "Vanessa. I think that's what her name was. Anyway, she took me to an office, I got out, but then she was coming back, and I ended up in that Funtime area place, where Funtime Foxy attacked me. Then I got trapped and I found some stuff, but Foxy broke in so I hid in Funtime Freddy who was deactivated in the room I was in. I swear, I was responsible though! I kept the hatch propped open, but that idiot Foxy made it close, and Freddy reactivated." He drew his knees to his chin and curled up a little, his arms wrapped around his legs. "Then they made the conveyor or whatever take me and him to the scooper. I tried to get out, but only got it a little ways open and then you saved me." He winced. "Again." He brushed it off, his breath gusting out slowly. "So there. That's what happened."