Trapped

Chapter 9

I wake up every night plauged with nightmares of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
I dream of my friends faces and their cries for help.
The scene that always sticks out to me, is Toby's goodbye.

It's been a years since that night, no longer the innocent teenagers. We had long since moved out of state. It had been Jackson's idea; he knew I couldn't look at our hometown without thinking of that night.
We couldn't walk down the street without people calling us murderers.
I sometimes even get flashes of disfigured animatronics late at night. My own mini horror movie. The images kept terrifying me to the point I refused to sleep. So Jackson crawled into my bed to sleep with me most nights.
My psychiatrist says I'm holding onto that night so tightly that my mind is creating the images into my everyday life.
I know he tip-toed around it but it was his nice was of saying I was hallucinating...
The hallucinations began to stop with heavy medication and having Jackson sleep with me. I know he had his own demons to deal with from that night but it seems like he's content in comforting me.

He worked to support our household and he worked hard. He said it was a good distraction from the flashbacks.

I sometimes feel like I don't deserve Jackson in my life. He's been much too kind to me.
I know without him I'd be back at the mental hospital, in a cell, alone.

It had been unbelievably difficult to just re-join society so I mostly just stay home reading, trying to avoid the life outside of my fictional reality.

It's funny how after one night of being in that place...I was still mentally trapped.

___________________________

I was scratching the ears of our cat Jasper while watching t.v. when Jackson woke up for the day.
It was surprising even after everything we've been through Jackson still looks the same. Olive skin, Dark brown eyes, Inky black hair.
Me, on the other hand? I was worse for wear, my light brown hair flat and hanging limply, my dark hazel eyes lifeless surrounded by dark circles.
It was kind of laughable in the rare times we went out in public together.

Jackson gave me a small smile as he touched my shoulder, breaking me out of my reverie.
"How are you feeling today?"

I stared at him for a moment before answering, I wanted to say."I'm not fine, I'm never fine."
but I knew how much that answer would pain him even after dealing with it for so long.
So I just forced a small smile and replied with, "I'm okay."
The look in his eyes told me he didn't believe me but he said nothing in fear of arguing.
"Can you switch the channel to the news please?" He asked as he headed to the kitchen to grab himself a bowl of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch.
I flicked through the news channels. "Our old hometown or national?"
He came out from the kitchen with his bowl and sat next to me on the couch, our other cat Amethyst jumped into his lap curious of what Jackson was eating.
"Let's throw a wild card and say hometown." he replied before scooping a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Giving him an odd look.  I clicked on the news channel and watched as our local news anchor Jacqueline Phillips came into view.
"--A new local horror attraction Fazbear's Fright to open within the month, More on that after the break."
My eyes darted towards Jackson, I felt my anxiety bubble to the surface.
Jasper meowed from petting him too hard and dashed out of my lap.

"What in the world..." Jackson started reaching for the remote, I kept it out of his grasp. "Wait Jackson, I wanna hear what it is, Maybe it's just a coincidence." I whispered.
He shook his head and we both stared at the tv as the news came back from the commerical.
"A local amusement park to open a new horror attraction within the month has taken the town by storm, Yes you heard it right. Fazbear's Fright is opening at the end of this month. Guaranteed to scare your socks off. Based on the unsolved mysteries of Fazbear's including decades old relics from the original pizzeria."

My face remained blank as Jacqueline's Co-Achor Dennis Mock began.
"Much of you may remember the two teenager survivors of the incident little more than 8 years ago; Claiming that the Animatronics came to life late that night and killed their friends. Though the police have deemed the two innocent as well as the nightguard who was present that night, it's still up for speculation of what really happened that night. Jacqueline? Do you agree that this might bring back that night in an ugly light for Jane Abernathy and Jackson Colt?"

Jackson and I once again looked at eachother when our names were brought up, I looked back at the t.v. feeling as if I was about to go into a panic attack.

"Who knows Dennis? Sources say they long since moved out of the state after Miss Abernathy was released from the mental hospital. Who knows where they are right now? They're probably just trying to get on with their lives."
I hit the off button on the t.v. and stared at the blank screen, "They're opening a horror attraction based on what they think are make-belief stories..."
There was a faint sigh from Jackson, I looked over he was petting our other cat Amethyst like his life depended on it. "They stated that there's going to be old relics from the the original pizzeria..." He said quietly continuing to pet our small gray cat.
My eyes widened. "The Animatronics..."
His face was grim, "I'm calling today off work." He looked over at me his expression unreadable. "Then I'm calling Mike."