Five Nights At Howell's

Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Down

"Well..."
"Are you ok, Dan?"
"No, Philip, I am not ok. We've just been abducted and taken across England to my old house- which by the way, shouldn't be standing!"
"Oh, I'm sorry I sai-."

"Bravo, bravo, Dan. I applaud you, you cought on pretty fast."
Clap, clap, clap...

"Who are you and why have you taken us? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to kidnap people?"

"Daniel, shut up. I assume you don't want things worse than they already will be? Don't ruin your little chance of escape by making me kill you."

"Hey Dan, I... I think he's being serious."

"I am, but I know you don't care if you die, so...
I advise you to keep your mouth shut and listen to your friend there, or I won't make his death quick."

Shock and worry filled Dan's face. He looked at Phil, who was looking at Dan sweetly, almost as if to say "I know you won't let that happen."

"That's what I thought. So, Phil is it? How do you feel about the replica of Dan's old house, it looks like the pictures, no?"

"Leave Phil out of this! You had no right to take me, mush less so him. I don't care what you do to me but I swear on everything you consider holy, I will kill you. Leave him alone!"
"Dan, it's ok... I know we'll be ok. Just stop, please."

"How can you deny that, Daniel? He asked so nicely. It would be a shame if he couldn't whisper such sweet nothings to you anymore."

"Dan. It's ok."

Dan didn't respond, he didn't even aknowledge the voice at all. He kept to himself, worrying that what the person was saying could actually happen.  He won't give any reason for... What was his name?

"Jason. I'm Jason, and I'm going to be your host on Five Nights At Howell's. Prepare yourselves boys, anything can happen, and if your not careful, anything will happen."

"Is this some sick horror show?"

"You know Howell, I'm sick of your mouth. I'm sick of you, if I'm being quite blunt. I was going to go slow, let you two walk around memory lane, but I'm just gonna jump right into this."

"Dan!"
"I'm sorry, Phil. I'm sorry. I'll stop talking, I promise."

"Don't stop now, I'd like to hear you scream..."

"It's ok. We'll be ok, I hope."

"Phil, hope won't help you here..."

"Are you just going to drop in on us randomly, Mr. Jason?"

"Yes, Mr. Lester, I will be. For now though, I will be leaving you two be. So long and goodnight, boys. So long and goodnight."

"Night?"

Phil was about as confused as Dan was angry. Phil knew Dan was more than embarrassed, he was mortified, and enraged- all at once. He knew there was nothing he could tell Dan to make him stop beating himself up for all of this, and that dug a hole in Phil's soft heart.

There was one thing Phil could do, though. He could find a way out of this fake house.

There has to be an exit. You can't build a house without a door or a window.

"Hey Dan, why don't we look for an exit, or maybe some kind of clue on what we're supposed to do?"

Phil stretched his hand out to pull his companion up and was pleased when Dan took it, even after a few seconds of hesitation. Phil held his hand, in a platonic way, and they both left "Dan's room."

After what seemed like hours, the two of them went through all but the master suite and Dan's "brothers room." Dan refused to go in either but allowed Phil to go look in both rooms. Phil came back and reported that, just like every other room, there were windows, but they were all boarded.

Dan tried not to let their failure to find an escape route show on his face. He walked back into his room and sat on the bed. Dan put his head in his hands. Phil noticed where Dan had went and he sat down next to Dan, and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Everything will be ok, Dan. I know it will. Why don't we, hmm. Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell me what happened to your house?"
"Um. Sure, Phil."

Dan waited a moment to collect himself and they both took this time to face each other. Dan started multiple times, but it took him a while to form a reply. When he did it was sad and it brought him to tears.

"We were all minding our business, just sitting around in our own rooms. Mum was reading, Dad was watching the television, I was up here just... Just sulking over life and Adrian. He was singing, to himself, just singing and smiling. He was so alone. He- none of his friends wanted anything to do with him anymore. It was horrible for him, pretending he was ok but really, he wasn't. I heard him at night, he would cry and when he cried himself to sleep, he would wake up screaming. It always woke me up, but it never woke our parents, they never even stirred. I would always walk into his room and sit at the edge of his bed and say, 'Adrian, whatever that was couldn't possibly hurt you now, not while I'm here. I'll protect you.' He would hug me so tight and... And he always fell asleep, right there in my arms.

"I never really understood why that was such a big deal to me. It was like a routine, nearly nightly, but that night, something was off. I held him longer and he cried even more than nights before. By the time I went back to bed it was almost two hours later. I was in bed, listening to the silence. It got warm, really warm, hot even. I didn't know why, I didn't care, I just took off my blankets. They-"

Dan started sobbing into Phil's arms.

Just like Adrian. I held him right before he died, just like Phil's holding me.

"Can you continue, it's ok if you don't want to, I don't mind."

Dan nodded and continued the story.

"They all burned, Phil. I heard him screaming again, this time I didn't get up. He only screamed once. My parents didn't make a noise at all. The fire traveled all around the house, everywhere except the east bathroom. When I finally woke up, I found ashes, nothing left. There was nothing left of the house, nothing left of them. I was the only survivor. I only had his old cuff. The one I always wear. The one that I used to keep on the dresser."

Phil got up and walked to the stand. He searched the drawers but only found clothes. On the top he found a small, leather strap- one identical to the one Dan was wearing now.

"Dan, I'm sorry to stop your story so soon, But I think I have an idea on what's going on. We need to ask Jason. He probably already knows what I'm thinking, just​ like he probably heard your story, but really. Five Nights At Howell's? The game, Dan."
"Five Nights At Freddy's... Phil, you're a genius!"

"Jason!" They both screamed at the same time. They wanted answers, and they were pretty determined to get them. 

July 3, 2017