Fleeing The Past || PURPLEPHONE

He COULD B E A̕͡ ̷̵N ͢Y W̨͜ ̢̛͘H̨̕͡ ̨͡͡E͡ ͢R ͜͡͞E̢͏͡

"So tell me," Vincent said as they were eating, "Whatever became of that hell-hole they called a pizza place, anyway?"

Scott shifted uneasily. "Well... after, you know, the incident, Fazbear's had a pretty bad reputation. They tried to sell up, but nobody dared buy a building where children disappeared. T-That all happened while we still worked there, but I don't know if they told you... you were under investigation at that time, plus I was the assistant manager, I got information before anyone else."

Vincent nodded, "Makes sense. What next?"

"The day after the night I thought you died - five years ago - they opened up and saw the blood. I don't remember much about that time, plus, after that night I wanted to have as little to do with the restaurant as possible, but I assume they also saw Bonnie with its face ripped off, the vent cover blown, the window smashed. Et cetera. Anyway, they tried to sell up again, but if people weren't willing to buy it before, they definitely weren't now. There were hushed rumours of ghosts, that the murderer would return, that the building itself was built over a graveyard. Y'know how it is. Well, they couldn't sell it, and they couldn't re-open it, and nobody dared bulldoze it in case of unrested, angry spirits. So... they just left it there... like a tomb. The animatronics still on stage - they probably still roam around at night - the pizzas still on the table, the blood in the Office just left to dry..." Scott shook his head. "It's a silent graveyard of the past. Like a picture."

Vincent was silent for a while, soaking in all that information. "Ghosts, huh?"

"Well, some people are just superstitious, I guess. I guess it's ridiculous, but-"

Vincent cut him off, "No, no, it makes perfect sense. Ghosts are as real as you or me, Scott. Denying their existence is simply close-minded."

Scott laughed nervously, "Heh. B-But, seriously... I mean, ghosts at Freddy Fazbear's? That's stupid. I mean, it was a great place..."

"During the day," Vincent added.

"During the day," Scott agreed, "But still, there weren't any paranormal occurrences. We never caught ghosts on camera or had doors opening and closing or lights flickering..."

"Or hallucinations," Vincent said, with a sarcastic tone to his voice, "Or posters on the wall changing at random intervals, or crying children, or a little girl's laughter ringing through the place, or static feed cutting out whenever the animatronics move, or animatronics twitching and making groaning noises, or trying to kill us, or-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Scott said quickly, looking around nervously. "Don't remind me... I used to get flashbacks during the day. I swear, if somebody tells me 'it's me' one more time I will scream."

"It's me," Vincent grinned.

Scott stared blankly back at him, rather unimpressed, "Everybody's a comedian..."

Vincent shrugged, "All I'm saying is it's a fair point. That place was obviously haunted, and I reckon it was the souls of those kids. All 11 of them."

"Eleven?" Scott asked, "But... wait a minute - there was the 5 Missing Children Incident, and then at the old location there was the original 5 who were killed... that's ten."

"You're forgetting the one who was killed outside Fredbear's Family Diner," Vincent said, "You know, the one where the murderer drove up in a car, killed the kid, and drove... off..." he trailed off, looking at Scott's terrified expression. He cleared his throat, "I, uh, take it you weren't aware of that one."

"One was killed at Fredbear's?!" Scott exclaimed.

Vincent grinned uneasily, "Y-Yeah... just a while before the whole Springlock Malfunction thing..."

"I never knew!" Scott said. "I-W-Who-I mean-" he looked around as if expecting an explanation to be written on the walls. "How did I not know?"

"I, uh, if I remember correctly," Vincent said, "You were in the Fredbear suit that day. You took the cake to the birthday party, right? The same birthday party as the Malfunction?"

Scott nodded slowly, "Yeah, I was on suit duty that day..."

"Right. It happened around the same time as that. They didn't find the body until after the Malfunction..."

"Wait a minute," Scott was suddenly fixated on Vincent. "How do you know this?"

Vincent stared blankly at him for a while. "I was the one who found the body."

Scott's eyes widened, "Oh my gawd! Th-That must have been awful! You poor thing! That would have messed me up for life!"

Vincent shrugged slightly and looked away from Scott. "Guess that's why they were so keen on inspecting me after the missing children incident. Remembered I was the one with the body back at Fredbear's and naturally thought I could have done it..."

"I just don't believe you're a murderer," Scott said. "I mean, you're really kind, and alright, so you're not a big fan of kids, but I just don't believe you could be that heartless."

Vincent grinned, "My heart only beats for one person, Scott~"

Scott rolled his eyes, "Mhm, I see. But I'm not going to lie. I was always a little scared. While on day shift, I mean. I always thought the murderer might be right among us. Ready to strike again. I always jumped when people came to ask me things. Half expected them to hold a gun to my head. Whoever that person is, they're quick. They're indetectible. They're cruel, sadistic and evil. And they could be anyone. They could be anywhere."

Vincent chuckled softly, "They could even be in front of you right now~"

Scott shuddered and stood up. "Thanks for dinner, Vince."

"No problem, Scott," Vincent grinned as Scott walked off, and then turned to face somewhere oddly straight towards where the camera would be if there was one, seeming to stare straight at you through the words on this page. "After all, Y̶o̴u nèv̕e͡r ̨know ̛w̡h͜e͠n h̸e just ̕m͜i̧gḩt s̀t̴r͢i͠ke ag͞ai̵n͝"

((Did I mention that the 4th Wall is my favourite thing to break? No? Okay. ))