A Child Smile - FNaF Fanfic [+14]

Chapter 10

  – So you're just... kids?
  – Most of us are tweens. Only Jerry and Cassie are really kids – Gabriel replied, speaking in a whisper just like Michael.
  – Oh, sure. Wait, Jerry and Cassie as in Jeremy and Cassidy?

  Jeremy nodded slowly, finally doing something other than simply watching. After receiving the rabbit's answer, Mike began counting on his fingers while looking at the ceiling, until his expression of doubt turned into one of surprise and even empathy.

  – Gabriel and Susie? – the boy asked as he turned his attention to the bear and the chicken.
  – Yes, how do you know? – the girl asked.
  – So this is where you all are? All the missing children...
  – They think we're missing? – Jeremy decided to speak with words for the first time. – My dad and my mom, are they looking for me?
  – Well, yes, except for Fritz. He's the only one presumed dead, thanks to the blood they saw in the storage room. In any case, the police covered up the case to not damage the image of the pizzeria any more than the disappearances already did.
  – Wait, the police covered up my case?! So the only ones who know that I died are my parents and us?! Why?!
  – My father, he... paid the police so that no one would find out.
  – WHAT?!

  Almost instantly, the group heard a noise coming from the storage room. They knew what they had to do.
  Each of the robots ran to their respective positions, while Michael didn't know where to go. He knew that the Pirate Cove was a very obvious hiding place, but it didn't seem like he had any other options. Thus, the boy ran to the small stage, managing to enter it a few seconds before the unknown person arrived in the main hall.

  – What are you doing?! This place is too obvious!
  – I wouldn't have been able to hide in another place in time! – once again, the boy heard someone walking through the main hall, but this time the person seemed to be getting closer.
  – Quick, get inside of me!
  – What?!
  – Get inside of me! Of Foxy! I think there's room for you in here.

  Without asking any further questions, Michael walked to the back of the robot and opened its back, then struggled to fit into the small space between the costume and its endoskeleton.
  It was then that the curtain was abruptly opened. Thanks to the light of a flashlight, Michael was able to see the face of the person who had been keeping him company that night. None other than the owner of the pizzeria: Henry Morgon. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a small part of the light that ended up passing through the cracks in the costume.
  He saw dark red, almost black spots spread across some parts of Foxy's fur and soon understood what they were. Disgust was the only thing the boy could feel. He needed to get out of that robot urgently, but he knew that the consequences of doing so would be worse than anything he could see or feel inside the costume.
  When the man finally closed the curtain, Michael jumped out of the costume. Soon he felt his head throb and weigh with the information he had just received and with the adrenaline that ran through his body, so he sat down in a free space in the Pirate Cove and began massaging his temples.

  – Why is he here? – Fritz whispered.
  – It must be something about the robots malfunctioning. Now I know it's because of you guys, but Henry doesn't know that.
  – You don't think he's going to destroy us, do you? – for Michael's surprise, the boy's tone of voice indicated sadness, most likely caused by the thought.
  – No, maybe he just came to do some maintenance on you.
  – Now that I think about it, what did you come to do here? Both the other night and today.
  – The other night we were looking for something about your murder, since the cops jumped out of it. Today I came to find out what's going on with the robots. I'm sure my father wouldn't tell me anything.
  – Well, you've figured that out, right? Better get home now.

  With the silence quickly consuming both Michael and Foxy, the boy took the opportunity to listen carefully to the sounds coming from outside the stage. However, when he was about to leave, he hesitated.

  – What if I tell him about you?
  – And why would you do that?
  – He is an adult, the owner of the pizzeria and the creator of the robots.
  – But do you think he will believe it?
  – If we show him, yeah.
  – Okay, I'm in.

 

 

  A loud wooden noise coming from the Pirate Cove echoed throughout the main hall. Adding that to the scream he heard a few minutes ago and the unusual movement he saw in the purple curtain when he returned to the hall, Henry came to the conclusion that there was, indeed, someone in the pizzeria. On another day, he might have simply assumed it was the night guard, but the man knew full well that his partner had fired him.

  – I know there's someone out there. It's easier for both of us if you just show your face.

  Henry continued to stare at the stage, waiting until the person did as he asked. However, instead of a human being's, the first face revealed was Foxy's. Soon after, the man saw Michael leave the stage and approach the animatronic.

  – Michael? Are you the one tampering with the animatronics? – he asked in a disappointed tone. The shock was so much that he even had to stop fixing Freddy and put the battery he was holding on the floor.
  – No – the boy rolled his eyes. – I know what's going on with the robots, but I didn't mess with them.
  – Well, I'd love to hear you explain – his tone of voice sounded a little sarcastic, something no one ever expected to hear coming from Henry.
  – You know that whole thing about Fritz being murdered in the pizzeria? Well, he's now possessing Foxy. And it's not just Fritz! All the other kids who disappeared at the pizzeria were actually killed here too, and they're also possessing the other robots.
  – ...Mike, if you messed with the robots, you can tell me. I won't be mad and I promise not to tell your father.
  – Okay, I know this sounds really unrealistic, but I swear it's true! I can prove it – Foxy and him exchanged glances, then the fox finally said something.
  – It's true. Susie, Gabriel, Jeremy, Cassidy, and I were killed here, in the old storage room.

  Henry was simply in disbelief when he heard the robotic attraction, his own creation, speak as if it had a life of its own. Not just any life, but the one that had once belonged to a little boy he had watched grow up.

  – But... how? Does this mean that the souls are possessing the robots? So souls exist? But if souls exist, then does Heaven exist? And Hell too, of course. Have I made too many mistakes in life? My God, am I going to Hell?!
  – Henry! – Michael called out in an attempt to snap the elder out of his trance.
  – Why are you telling me this?
  – That is a great question.

  Henry gave a short jump, startled by the sudden speech. Turning his face towards the direction of the voice, he saw Fredbear come out of the old storage room and approach the stage, practically dragging the yellow carcass around the place. Despite his apparent difficulty in moving, Henry was impressed that Fredbear, or whoever was possessing him, was able to walk without having a complete endoskeleton.

  – Susie? – Henry whispered, looking at the effeminate-voiced bear with a confused look.
  – No, I'm Susie – instead of Cassie, Chica answered, also coming down from the stage. – That is Cassidy.
  – Okay, the introductions were made. Now could you please explain the plan? – Gabe asked, crossing his arms and letting his features take over with a suspicious look directed at Fritz and Michael.
  – Actually, I'm just supporting Mike. I also have no idea why we're telling Henry this.

  A question had been raised. Now surrounded by the five animatronics and Henry, Michael saw no other option but to answer them.

  – So, Mike? Why did you tell him about us? – Susie kept her arms crossed as she approached the boy. The genuine doubt with a hint of anger in her gaze only made her plastic eyes more frightening.
  – Honestly, I don't know.