Stained

Chapter 2

An alarm on the computer sounds. It plays the same sound your grandmother's alarm clock plays. Your watch says 6:00 AM, and both Bonnie and the duck seem to forget all the murder-y shit that just went and happened, and they walk back down the hallway. You simply stand there, flabbergasted, until you hear another sound in the hall at 6:02.

"Just go away...."

You prepare for the worst by donning the Freddy head, but then you see a person walking down the hallway. Another guard. Not Ben, but someone else entirely.

"Hey, I'm Scott. I spoke to you on the phone last night. I'm doing the morning shift."

"Oh my God, Scott. What happened last night? My head is still spinning."

"Yeah, it can be a little overwhelming at first. I tell everyone that. But you'll do fine. Trust me."

"Yeah... okay. So, the bunny is named 'Bonnie'?"

"Yep. I've never liked Bonnie."

"And... what about the duck?"

He laughs. "That's Chica. She's a bitch...."

"I'll say. She was... she... well, I'm not even sure it was real myself. It all ended like four minutes ago. Feel my fucking heart!"

"The guy from last week said that she looked extra... different during the night."

"Ben?"

"Yeah, Ben. Something about her face... I don't know. I don't listen to that little shit much."

"Did she ever... talk?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah, talk."

"Look man—these animatronics do a lot of things, but talking isn't one of them. Except for the balloon asshole. He says a little every now and then."

"But... I thought, she was..."

"Look, the only reason I still work with Fazbear is because I get time away from my godforsaken wasteland of a wife. And if I gotta kick around a plastic chicken bitch on the show stage to make myself feel better, then that's what I gotta do."

"You do what?"

"The pressure's gonna get to you, Jeremy. Sooner or later, you're gonna realize that we have our fun with Chica. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff me and the guys have done."

"The place has been open a week!"

"She was built ten months ago. She sat here while we were opening the place. We had to order her a replacement ass." Scott's nearly cackling now.

"Yeah, well... but... okay, I gotta go man. See you later."

Scott drove up in a purple Subaru XT and it is positively repulsive. It is, however, parked right next to your Ford, so you're forced to restrain yourself from spitting on its awfulness, and so what if your key rubs up against it on the way back? Accidents happen.

That restaurant must have really gotten to you. Everything was over at six, but... the bunny was clearly... real. Your index finger's knuckle was bleeding from the blow you delivered to prove it. But the duck? She seemed so... emotional... and self-aware, as if she had some kind of human quality. She truly seemed to have needed you in that moment.

Needless to say, you're deep in thought the whole way home.

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