Eyes of Purple

Chapter Eighteen

Wednesday, 23: 36

"AAAAARGH!"

For Jeremy, hearing screams a half-hour before his shift started was a very bad sign. Although he probably should've expected something else...

"Mike... Why are you-"

The older man had the decency to almost look embarrassed, tangled in a slew of electric wires. Somehow he'd gotten stuck upside-down under the table, trying to hook up the sound system. Jeremy didn't know whether to laugh or shake his head.

"Look, will you stop standing here and help me? I've been trapped here for nearly a freaking hour."

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Wednesday, 23: 52

"Why were you even down there?"

"... Scott asked me to hook up the thing and I didn't have the heart to tell him I had no idea what to do with it."

"But aren't you a mechanic-"

"Apples and oranges, Jeremy, apples and oranges."

Jeremy failed to hold back his snicker. "Whatever you say, boss."

---------

"Hello hello! See? I told you you wouldn't have any problems!

"Did...uh... Did Foxy ever appear in the hallway? Probably not. I was just curious. Like I said, he was always my favorite. They tried to remake Foxy, ya know? Uh, they thought the first one was too scary, so they redesigned him to be more kid-friendly and put him in Kid's Cove. To keep the toddlers entertained, you know... But kids these days just can't keep their hands to themselves. The staff literally has to put Foxy back together after every shift. So eventually they stopped trying and left him as some 'take apart and put back together' attraction. Now he's just a mess of parts. I think the employees refer to him as just 'The Mangle'. Uh...

"Oh, hey, before I go, uh, I wanted to ease your mind about any rumors you might have heard lately. You know how these local stories come and go and seldom mean anything. I can personally assure you that, whatever is going on out there, and however tragic it may be, has nothing to do with our establishment. It's just all rumor and speculation... People trying to make a buck. You know... Uh, our guard during the day has reported nothing unusual. And he's on watch from opening 'til close.

"Okay, well anyway, hang in there and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I always wondered why he does that." Jeremy had already fetched his light, eyes trained on the hallway ahead. There was something different about him tonight- he seemed more focused. Like something greater was at stake here than just his personal safety. Michael would have pondered on this further, but he was occupied with monitor-and-music-box duty.

"Does what, Jeremy?"

"Just blatantly denies anything that happens."

"Unfortunately, that's his job- Toby coming up." Jeremy smacked the Right Vent's button, and a groan of disgust was heard from the other side. The vent opened up once again. "As Head of Security, Scott unfortunately has to take a lot of backlash whenever something screws up, and he's contractually obligated to lie to the employees about certain happenings when he's actually working. Neither of us like it, but there's nothing he can do."

"That's not what I meant."

"What else could you mean, then?" Jeremy held up a finger to his lips, frowning. Flicking on the flashlight, he walked to the hallway's entrance, pointing it straight ahead.

Foxy was frozen in the light's soft glow, his sharp jaws parted in a wide snarl, directly above Jeremy's head. The most frightening part was that Jeremy didn't even show any sort of reaction- he turned off the light, watching as Foxy scrambled away. There was a grim sort of acceptance in his eyes, turning back to Michael. "You were saying?"

"... What did you want to ask?" Micheal couldn't look him in the eyes, winding up the box remotely. He had a feeling what had just happened was something he shouldn't comment on- but nevertheless, it disturbed him. If this place had changed such a shy kid so much in only a matter of days... Then what hope was there?

"Does Scott actually have any idea what goes on here at night?" That was the one comment where Michael could let his exterior crack just a bit, showing the smallest of smiles.

"Sometimes I have a feeling that Scott's the only one who really has a grasp on this whole situation- other times, I'm not so sure."

"... How does that even work?"

Michael shrugged.

Author's Note : So this is FINALLY going in the way I want it to... 

Unfortunately, this means the book is beginning to wrap itself up. Don't worry- we've still got quite a ways to go. I'm also going to start something new- from now until the end of the book, I'll be accepting 'ask questions' for any character in this book- or me, if you want to ask me something- to answer! The bulk will be published in a special Ask Chapter at the end!