A Child Smile - FNaF Fanfic [+14]

Chapter 5

  – Absolutely not – said a girl, crossing her arms and making a face that showed some discomfort.
  – Please, Charlie! We need to know what happened there! – Marla begged.
  – Look, I understand that you're curious, I am too! But I never keep secrets from my father. I can't just walk into his office and go through his stuff just to look for an answer to something we'll probably find out about eventually!
  – But what if they don't tell us? – Michael asked. – Come on, Charlie! Pretty please?
  – I already told you, I can't lie to my father! Never have, never will.
  – There's a first time for everything.
  – Okay. Charlie, – the other girl approached – you don't really have to lie to your father. You're just going to... hide the truth!
  – Yeah! If he never finds out, he'll never ask about it. And if he never asks about it, you'll never have to lie!

  The two stared at the young woman, waiting for her to finally give the answer that would please them.
  She looked up and let out a sigh as she looked back at the duo, ready to respond.

  – Okay, I'll do it. But if something goes wrong...
  – I'll owe you something. I made the same deal with Michael. But trust me, nothing will go wrong.

 

 

  Almost an hour had passed before the trio had the chance to put their plan into action. As agreed, Charlie entered the office and looked for something about the events of the previous day, while Michael stood outside to prevent Henry from entering the room earlier than expected.

  – Did you find anything, Charlie? – whispered the older teen, putting his head inside the room.
  – It's hard to! There's a lot of paperwork and a lot of emails.
  – Want some help?
  – Sure... Oh, nevermind! I just found something.
  – What? – he entered the room and approached the girl.
  – Urgh, I feel really bad about going through his phone without him knowing. Anyway... it's a chat with Fritz's mother, remember her?
  – Yeah, she was here yesterday.

  The girl scrolled the chat up to get to the real beginning of everything, with no intention of missing any information.

  – My father asked if she had gotten home yet, she said yes... Then she asked if the police had left yet and he said yes... – she continued to slowly scroll down.
  – The police? I wonder what must've happened to get the police involved... Anyway, what else is there?
  – My father says this: William paid them not to make this case public – Charlie then looked away from the electronic device, now looking at his friend. – Mike... your father is trying to cover up what happened.
  – J-just keep going – he said, now nervous about his own father's involvement.
  – Okay. Despite this, I still have the photos of the evidence saved. I have a feeling this will come in handy in the future. I apologize for everything that happened and I wish the best for you and your husband. Tomorrow we will pay the restitution.

  The girl looked for the photos and sent them to herself, quickly saving them on her own cell phone and deleting the messages on the other device so that her father wouldn't suspect anything.
  Without any more time to see the woman's response, she got up from her chair, leaving the room with Michael by her side. However, just a few steps before the door, the two ended up coming face to face with the man mentioned earlier in the conversation, William Afton.

  – ...What were you two doing with Henry's cell phone? – his tone of voice was rigid and showed distrust of the younger ones.
  – H-he asked me to bring his cell phone to him.
  – Hm. You've been in here for... – he paused to look at his wristwatch – more than ten minutes? – as he finished speaking, the man arched an eyebrow and put both hands in his pants pockets again. – All this time just to get a cell phone?
  – Pff... You know how my father is! Always so messy... It took us a while to find it. But what about you? What are you doing here? – asked Charlie.
  – Well, my dear Charlotte... – His tone of voice seemed sweet, but it quickly changed to a rougher one when he said the girl's name. He had also grabbed her face tightly, scaring both her and Michael – unlike you, I not only work there but I'm also one of the founders of this pizzeria.

  And so he finally let go of the youngest's face, leaving red marks on her cheeks.

  – Not that I owe you any explanation, but I came here to settle business with my partner, but I can already see that nobody important is here. If you'll excuse me...

  The figure walked out of the office, dragging with him any answers the duo might want or need.

  – Wow... Did you see that? He called me Charlotte. Only my father calls me Charlotte. He knows that.
  – He's getting worse each time – the boy murmured, his eyes already beginning to fill with tears.
  – Did you say something? – Charlie asked, also putting a hand on Mike's shoulder.
  – No, nothing – he replied, wiping his tears with a hand. – We better go, Marla must have arrived with Lamar by now.

  – Mike, Charlie! – Lamar exclaimed, approaching them. – Marla told me all about your plan.
  – Shh! Be quiet! – whispered Mike.
  – Why? Did something happen? – asked Marla.
  – Mike's father is suspicious about us, he saw us in the office.
  – Do you think he wants to hide something? Besides what happened yesterday? – Lamar asked.
  – I don't know, it's hard to say. Maybe he was just being protective, like my dad, but he was also acting really weird. He called me Charlotte and had even grabbed my face really hard.
  – Maybe... maybe he's just feeling bad about what happened. It makes sense that he'd be more affected than Henry – Michael said.
  – But what happened, exactly? – Lamar asked.
  – We only know that it's something about Fritz and that there was some restitution involved. We also found some photos and I sent them to myself, but I didn't have time to look at them properly.
  – And the police aren't involved in all this? I mean, if there's a restitution, I assume they would have to be in the mix – said Marla.
  – My father bribed them so that no one would find out about this...
  – I can already see that the justice system in this city is great... – Marla commented, rolling her eyes. – But why would people know about this? What happened that was so important?
  – Maybe the answer is in the pictures. Show us the first one, Charlie – Lamar asked.

  As requested, Charlie took her cell phone out of her pocket and opened the gallery, finally giving the group the opportunity to look at the photo.

  – Jesus fu- – Marla began to speak in a tone of surprise and shock, but was quickly cut off by Charlie, who placed a hand over the girl's mouth.
  – Shh! – she said.

  Mike tried to make a comment, but he couldn't even begin the sentence due to the reflux he felt. He ran to the nearest trash can, unable to hold back his vomit any longer.
 
  – Wait, I know this room. Why do I know this room? – Lamar asked, taking the phone from Charlie's hands to better analyze the photo.

  While the boy looked at the photo on the cell phone, Marla and Charlie went to Michael, bringing him closer when they were sure he was better.

  – I don't want to look at that picture again – Mickey said, still with a hand over his mouth.
  – And you won't. I remembered where I know this room from. It's that old storage room!
  – We need to look in there, then – suggested Marla.
  – But how? William will notice us and we will end up further than ever – Charlie replied.
  – Relax, we'll think of something – Lamar said.