Literal Nightmares - A FNAF AU

Chapter 9: The Stakes Get Higher

Chapter dedicated to CharaDreemurr359! Welcome back, buddy!

When I woke up the next morning, tired and with dark bags under my eyes indicating that I had not slept well at all, I could hear chattering and the clattering of plates from the kitchen outside.

Everyone else must've been awake.

I slid my legs off my bed and stood up, stretching and yawning and rubbing my eyes as I did. I changed into my usual gray-striped black T-shirt and blue shorts, and as I grabbed Plush Fredbear's arm, a memory struck me with a jolt.

Elizabeth and Fredbear are still out there, unsafe from those monsters. And I can't do anything right now to protect them.

Guilty and scared, my mood immediately dropped, and my shoulders sagged. I dragged myself towards the door with Fredbear clutched in my hand, opened it and walked outside.

When I walked into the kitchen, everyone was there, looking exhausted but alert, wide awake. My brother Michael seemed to be telling them about something, fear evident in his brown eyes, and everyone was listening, and I stopped at the doorway to listen as well.

He did not look well; in fact, he almost looked worse than Vincent. He looked shaken, agitated, and his fingers were twitching as he talked. I immediately remembered last night, and I thought with worry, I wonder what happened next, after I left the room...

"...I swear, the Freddy's I was in was just as trashed as Fredbear's before the fire," Michael said, an anxious look on his face. "I found myself sitting on the holed stage, and a few minutes later Nightmare appeared—"

"Nightmare?!" Freddy exclaimed in horror. The animals exchanged worried looks, and Vincent's and Samantha's faces were pale.

"What do you mean?" I said, my throat tight with terror. At once, everyone's attention turned to me, surprise in their eyes. Of course, they didn't notice me at the doorway, awake and listening.

"Oh, good morning honey," Sam greeted me with a smile, which I returned, but the anxiety in her voice did not vanish.

"Mornin' Chris," Michael said absently. "Uh, yeah. Nightmare was there. We had a 'chat,' but that's not important. What's important is this..."

I could feel the atmosphere getting even more tense.

His voice was shaky. "He kept Elizabeth." The room held their breath at the mention of Eliza. "He set us a twenty-hour challenge, to find her. If we fail, they'll kill her and we have to face them. If we find her, we'll still have to fight them, but at least we'll have Elizabeth."

"And how are we supposed to find her in the first place?" squeaked Chica.

Michael sighed. "He sent me to a location in my dreams. Remember the park we used to go to, a bit farther away from Freddy's?"

My eyes widened as flashes of memories appeared before them. Playing hide-and-seek with my sister when I was only five, playing with the dirt with my brother, watching in awe as my father flies his small red working aeroplane through the air with his controller, my mother feeding me small cuts of apples for snacktime...

I nodded my head vigorously, forcing myself to return back to the present. "I loved that place," I said hoarsely.

"Me too," Michael said sadly. "I have a feeling that Elizabeth's there. The Nightmares are hiding her there."

"Then it wouldn't take too long to get there," said Vincent determinedly. But before he could take a step outside the kitchen, Foxy blocked his way.