Autophobia

Chapter 10: Behind Closed Doors

Fritz paused for a few seconds before relocking the sliding glass doors he'd just entered through. He, too, walked slowly and deliberately.

"Who's that?" Jessica leaned over Charlie's shoulder.

    "Who do you think?" The girl hissed, "What's he doing? He's 45 minutes early!"

    Fritz glanced around and then became fixated on the illuminated kitchen.

    "Go back, go back!" John exclaimed, shooing the group behind him. They dove behind a large kitchen island just as Fritz stepped onto the black and white tiles.

     "Hello?" His voice was laced with agitation as he scanned the room, determined to locate whatever employee was still around. "You can't be here right now. Building has to be cleared by 10:30."  He's going to find us. Charlie swallowed and shut her eyes. He's going to find us, he's going to call the police, they're going to call my dad.... her thoughts raced along with her heart.

    "Hello?" Everyone jumped as a childlike, boyish voice echoed through the dining room and kitchen. Fritz cursed and stalked out of the kitchen, switching the lights off. "Hi!" The voice continued.

    "God dammit..."

    Charlie opened her eyes as Fritz switched off the kitchen lights and disappeared into the dining room, presumably to find the animatronic culprit, which Charlie knew was Balloon Boy.

"That. Was close." Marla breathed.

"We have to find another place to hide." Charlie said calmly.

"Where? He'll see us no matter where we go!" Jessica lamanted.

"Only if he's still in the dining room." Charlie stood up and poked her head out of the kitchen door.

"CHARLIE!" John hissed. She held up her hand and glanced around the dining room. Fritz was nowhere to be seen, in the shadows or otherwise.

"All clear."

Her friends just stared at her.

"Come on, we can hide under the tables by the carousel." She Insisted. Jessica slowly joined her friend and was followed by the rest of the group. "Follow me." Charlie led them to a long party table by the arcade cabinets and ducked underneath it.

"Now what?" Lamarr leaned against one of the metal table legs. Everyone turned to Charlie, who opened her mouth and closed it again. What did she want to accomplish? What did she expect to find?

"They're not acting right." She said simply.

"And?" John raised an eyebrow.

"And we're going to watch them and figure out why."

"You mean we're just going to sit here?" Carlton groaned. 

"Hey, you agreed to stay." John reminded him.

"Look, I just want to watch them for a little while. If nothing happens, we can go out the back door and head to John's." Charlie hissed.

"And in the meantime?" Marla yawned.

"We sit and wait." Charlie looked to the show stage, where the three toy animatronics stood motionless yet attentive. They were listening, she knew. Listening for the laughter and playful screams of children. But there was only the sound of Fritz's footsteps as he paced the dining room. Carlton took out his phone and started playing a game of Snake. Marla and Lamarr looked over his shoulder. Jessica took out a pack of chewing gum and popped some in her mouth. Charlie's eyes grew heavy and she rested her head on John's shoulder.