Autophobia

Chapter 8: Shocked

A/N: Thank you so much for the support on this story, it really keeps me motivated. (Not that I don't enjoy writing this otherwise, of course.) I may modify my timeline soon; if I do I'll post an author's note at the top of an upcoming chapter, so keep an eye out! 

Charlie wasn't sure who to approach first- Fritz, who was watching her intently, or the oblivious teen girl by the stage. It was possible that she was a part of her younger sibling's party and taking pictures, so she chose the latter. Fritz was leaning against the prize counter, arms crossed. He gave her a small smile as she approached, but she remained stoic, crossing her arms in a similar fashion.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. I need to speak with your father- erm, Mr. Emily."

Charlie squinted, noticing his British Accent for the first time. He was still clad in the Freddy's security uniform: a purple button down shirt with black slacks. The only thing missing was the matching black hat.

"...Why?"

"You see that girl over there?" The security guard gestured to the teen girl, who was now taking closeups of Orville.

"What about her?"

"She works for someone who's in the business. A competitor of sorts." Fritz picked up a tangled slinky from the prize demo box and examined it.

"First off, my dad is busy. Second of all, you can't-"

"I can wait." Fritz said nonchalantly, tugging at two tangled rings on the slinky. Charlie glanced at John, who was watching and listening intently.

"...You can't be here."

"Why? Because I work at Freddy's? It's your father's franchise, isn't it?"

She laughed lightly and with exasperation.

"Are you serious?"

"Very." Fritz managed to untangle the slinky and carefully placed it back in the box. "He's the only one who knows about those robots. Their... glitches."

"Glitches?"

"You didn't notice the stuttering and that weird lock-up thing they do when an adult gets close?"  

 "Those aren't glitches. Not the lock-up thing, anyway. They have facial recognition."

 Fritz raised an eyebrow.

 "Oh?"

"Yeah. These guys have it too. If they register someone suspicious, they freeze."

"So every adult is suspicious? Why?"

 Charlie had to shake her head to get her train of thought moving again.

"You're imagining things."

"I'm imagining that?" Fritz looked to the stage. Charlie turned and froze. All three of the Mediocre Melodies were staring in their direction. The girl in the tutu was staring, too. Her green eyes were large and staring into Charlie's very being. She recoiled and the girl smirked, slipping her pink camera into her pocket before walking towards the duo. At this point John stood up, approaching them at an even more fervent pace. Then the restaurant went dark. The lights fizzled out and there was a loud buzzing sound- it sounded like a million angry bees.

The kids attending the birthday party screamed along with the girl as she fell to the floor, clutching her chest. Charlie almost didn't realize that she'd fallen as well- it felt like she'd been hit in the head with a board. The lights flickered back on within a few seconds and Henry raced out of the backroom, wrench in hand.