From the Scraps they Came (Fnaf Murder Mystery Fanfiction)

Chapter 2 - Broken Silence

         The sky was consumed by an ocean of black as tiny, silver speckles twinkled their way into view. Clouds loomed overhead, threatening rainfall that would never come. Despite their combined efforts, the moon still shone brightly, casting magnificent outlines upon any figure and shape below. Shadows no longer loomed, they had already taken their reign over the cold and still night. Even the roads remained still, a car zooming by on occasion. If you listened close enough, you could hear faint sirens from a nearby town. It was something that would cause a small disturbance among the civilians. However, it never lingered for too long. Soon enough, the silence of the night would take over once more.
         Among the peace, something quite ominous was brewing within the pizzeria. Things were quiet and still, barely anything worth noting had taken place just yet. A slight creak could be heard from the security office, coming from a swivel seat spinning back and forth slowly. The air circulating from the vents disrupted a cobweb in the corner, causing it to drift slowly to and fro. There was a gentle humming echoing the area and monitors created a gentle click! Buzz- chh! upon activation. The whirring of the everlasting fan seemed to overlap them all, it was old and beginning to rust. To the majority's annoyance, the off button lost it's purpose over time. You had to manually unplug it if you wished to turn it off. Given the mangled and tangled wires along the perimeter of the room, no one bothered to do so.
        Jeremy would shift from one side of the room to the other to check the vents, just in case something slipped by surveillance. There wasn't much to worry about currently so mike was mostly staring at the ceiling and playing around with his chair. He didn't bother checking the cameras too often unless he heard something since everyone else was in a different location in the building. When he did, he couldn't help but grow annoyed.
        "Damn it, cameras are all down-" He muttered.
        "W-what? All of them?" Jeremy quickly grabbed his monitor and flipped through in order to see if it was just Mike's device. Spoiler alert, it wasn't just his. "Th-that's... that's odd..."
        Mike sighed. "They're too focused on the establishment itself to fix the cameras I guess. Then again, that's nothing new. They were always outdated and faulty, the one in the kitchen especially." He thought for a moment and looked at Jeremy. "The hell they want us to do if something actually did happen, if we're being real? The most we can do with these toasters is screenshot the footage and post 'Hey! This hog-beaver deceiver jacked up the establishment! Can you identify him with this blurry ass picture?' and no one would ever call in since the footage makes the people look like something out of 'The Ring'." He leaned back in his seat. "Assuming, of course, we couldn't find the person in the first place."
       Jeremy nodded. "Wasn't there an incident that happened a-at the local mall?" he paused. "Like someone came in and knocked someone out in the bathrooms b-before stealing what they could and somehow no one noticed a thing and t-the security footage looked like a bunch of s-smudges on the screen."
       "Not going to lie, I stared at that screen for a solid ten minutes and couldn't make out any details other than the fact they had a hat on." Mike shook his head.
       "But... Don't you still feel a-at least a bit uneasy?" Jeremy looked up at him. "I-I mean... One or two cameras going down isn't cause for concern but... a-all of them?"
       Mike thought for a moment. "...It's probably nothing major. Though... I understand what you mean." He didn't want to admit to being a bit nervous, he knew it might cause Jeremy to worry even more. "I mean... This is just some local pizzeria, nothing major happens here."
      "...What about the incidents that Scott mentioned before?"
      "Jeremy... Those incidents happened a decade or so ago, I highly doubt something like that will happen again." Mike gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be alright. Even if it isn't, I'll always be here to help you through it."
      Jeremy puffed his cheeks in slight defiance. "I-I can take care of myself- Nothing l-like that's taking me down!"
      Mike snickered and gave him a gentle hug. "Without a doubt, Jeremy... Without a doubt." Though, even Mr.Schmidt knew better. Jeremy was an adult, yes, but he's not cut out to be alone in situations such as this. He knew Jeremy was trying to be more assertive just as much as Mike was trying to be a bit more gentle and cool-headed, just people trying to help each other out. However, he also knew that the both of them had a long way to go. He pulled away and checked the cameras once more, hoping that somehow the screens would fix themselves. However, he was wrong.
      After a short while, Jeremy spoke up. "...Hey, didn't Henry say that Christian was still cleaning up the facility?"
      Mike's gaze stayed on the ceiling. "Yeah, what of it?"
      "...We... Haven't seen him all night- doesn't he usually s-swing by every now and then if he's working late?"
      "Well, it's not that late he could show up any moment in the hall as usual."
      Jeremy stared at him for a moment. "...Mike, it's 3 a.m. and we haven't seen him leave yet either-"
     Mike froze for a moment before looking at the clock. "Huh- so it is-"
     "I'll... Go see if I can find him-" Jeremy grabbed a flashlight, just in case and proceeded to walk out.
     "Be careful!" he called out. He debated for a moment on whether or not he should follow. He soon concluded that he'd be alright, there were other people up and about. Even though he just left, Jeremy's absence felt a bit surreal to him. Still, he waited patiently. After about ten minutes, his mind began to wander, stumbling upon small sections of dialogue that kept him wide awake and alert. At first, he was remarking about the cameras. Gradually, he started speculating and theorizing as to why all of them went out before he started to wonder if Jeremy was right about being concerned. Time appeared to slow as he waited, the humming appearing louder than it actually was.
      After a short while, he stood up and began walking down the hall. He figured that he'd check on Jeremy just to soothe his nerves. Halfway down the corridor, he heard shrieks echo off the walls. One of them being just a familiar, high pitched shriek while the other was hollering a single question, "Woah! what the fuck?!" Mike immediately broke into a run to see what was the matter, a million questions racing along with him. All he knew was he needed to get there, and fast.
     He slid to a stop, almost running into Jeremy who was most likely racing to find him as well. "Are you okay? What happened?" Mike knew for a fact that was Jeremy's scream.
     "M-Mike- I-I think y-you should take a look at this-" He pointed a shaky finger toward the back room doorway. Off to the side, Marley had his back against the wall and had a hand cupped over his mouth. He was shaking quite a bit and his eyes were widened in fear. He briefly glanced at Mike before staring at the floor for a moment.
    Concerned and confused, Mike hesitantly walked over . Almost immediately, an overwhelming stench filled his nostrils. He looked into the dark doorway and noticed a curious stain by his feet. He reached over to the light switch very slowly.

    Click!

    To say the scene was a mangled mess would be an understatement. The display that laid before him was unlike any that he had seen before. A body was laying in the middle of the room drenched in wounds and blood, one of the legs were only attached to the torso by a single strand of flesh. The blood on the table and floor was already starting to dry up. Despite all the gnashes and splotches of crimson, he recognized who it was. It was the long, silky brown hair and rectangular glasses that first gave it away. Christian, who was mere hours ago beaming and cleaning up every speck of dust he could find, was now reduced to nothing more than a grim display that no one was supposed to see. He was always so energetic and playful, his energy would surely be missed.
     "W-we f-found... th-the door was jammed... w-we forced it open..." Jeremy looked at mike who was frozen in place, taking in what he was hearing and seeing but unsure how to react. "F-found him l-like this... wh-why didn't he scream? Wh-why didn't we..." Jeremy trailed off, holding his arms tightly.
    Mike looked over at Jeremy. "L-let's..." he put an arm around Jeremy and used the other to pull Marley along with him as he walked. "L-let's just... get the others and investigate- call the cops too-"
    The two complied in disturbed silence. Jeremy remained close to Mike and Marley lagged behind. Mike stared straight ahead, trying to appear like he wasn't bothered too much. However, inside he was sad and angry. Everyone at this point had gained each other's trust over the years and, if no one had gotten in or stayed behind during closing, what did it mean for everyone else? As much as he hated to consider the idea, he knew nothing good would come from this. It was far too brutal and sudden for him to shake the image from his head.