Five Nights At Freddy's

Chapter Twenty Three: Homecoming

  Jesse blinked, rubbing his face in exhaustion as Mike and Violet finished, leaving nothing back in terms of fact or inconceivable fact.  Everything from the murders that Thomas Glenn had committed to the seemingly possessed animatronics that tried to kill Mike time and time again was spewed into the open air, leaving Jesse nauseous.  They sat in the center of the dining room, Violet and Mike on one side of the table and Jesse on the other, his back turned toward the stage.  Violet and Mike found themselves looking between Jesse and Freddy nervously, distrustful of the unpredictable robots.  They remained still as though pleased with what was transpiring. 
  "So, let me get this straight," Jesse tried.  Mike and Violet exchanged glances.  "Thomas Glenn, deceased, killed the five missing children back in 1987... one of which was his own son, Jack... and then stuffed them into the animatronics... and now they're all haunting this establishment?"
  "I know it sounds insane-!" Violet started, but Jesse interrupted her. 
  "And... the fox which Jack was possessing... killed Iris?"  Violet swallowed.  "And then the puppet... electrocuted Thomas who was haunting that... Springtrap suit?"
  "Spring lock," Violet corrected, "yeah." 
  "I just have... one question..." Jesse simplified.  The two could tell he, in fact, had several questions, but his irritation at the situation and his desire to be gentle on the hysterical Violet was palpable. "...where's your proof?"  Violet and Mike exchanged glances. 
  "That's the thing," Mike sighed, "other than Thomas's confession... we don't have much else to go on." 
  "What about your claim about Iris's death?" Jesse asked, pointing at the bloody streaks going across the linoleum, "surely your security cameras caught that?"  Mike's heart sank. 
  "Just the audio," Mike admitted, "I put tape over the cameras before my shift."  Jesse clasped his head in his hands.
  "... and any other footage...?"
  "...Iris destroyed..." Violet finished.  "You won't find anything incriminating the animatronics.  He didn't want the code violations getting out." 
  "You realize how insane your claim is, right?" Jesse snapped, "I should arrest both of you."  Mike and Violet looked at each other grimly.  "I should... but I'm not.  I'm more than willing to consider Thomas Glenn as a suspect." 
  "If only we could prove it..." Mike muttered.  Violet straightened. 
  "We can," she said, jumping up.  "Jeremy didn't know where the bodies were.  We all passed lie detector tests."
  "Right?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow.  Violet darkened, circling the table to walk toward the stage.  The three animatronics looked back blankly. 
  "Well I do now.  Thomas told me. I need a crowbar." 

  Mike and Jesse returned with a box of rusty, unused tools from the supply closet.  Violet crawled onto the stage, face to face with Freddy Fazbear himself.  Violet could see herself reflected in his blue eyes as she cut the fur of his stomach free. 
  "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." she threw the scissors down, gripping a wrench to unscrew the plate in his stomach.  The smell was getting worse.  Mike and Jesse gagged, covering their noses with their shirts as Violet loosened the bolts.  With a clank, she dropped the wrench and grabbed a crowbar.  She looked down at it, wondering grimly if it was the same one Thomas had used to murder Jack.  She swallowed, her mouth thin as she positioned the crowbar and pried, putting her full body weight on the bar as the plate bent and snapped off.  The three stared.  Mike covered his mouth and held back the urge to vomit while Jesse turned white and sat down.  Violet relaxed, her shoulders slumping peacefully. 

  The rest of the police force arrived seconds later, removing Iris from Pirate's Cove and ripping the animatronics from the stage.  They confiscated the security cameras and monitors, reviewing the tampered tapes to see if they could salvage some sort of sign of demonic behavior.  Thomas, Foxy, and the puppet were removed from the boiler room and carted off with the others.  Violet and Mike watched as their firm masses were loaded onto a truck, towels wrapped around their damp shoulders. Mike raised an eyebrow, he could have sworn Thomas's eyes rolled toward him. It must have been a trick of the light because Violet didn't notice. She turned toward Mike and buried her face in his chest. He stroked her hair, not sure what to say to comfort her. In the moment, it didn't seem like she needed much, just the physical comfort of a hug as the nightmares were driven away.

  Jesse exited the pizzeria shortly afterward and exhaled sharply, rubbing his head. Violet and Mike turned toward him.
  "I... just got off the phone with the Toreors... "
  "How were they?"
  "Shaken," Jesse agreed, walking down the cement steps nervously. "I've uh... I've got some work... to do back at the station..." he cleared his throat. "Mr. Schmidt, your car should be ready by tonight, by the way. When the mechanic couldn't reach you he called me... you should be driving by tomorrow."
  "Oh," Mike replied in surprise. He'd forgotten about leaving. He glanced at Violet who darkened. "Thank you, Jesse." Jesse's mouth thinned in response as he turned to Violet.
  "If there's... anything I can do..."
  "I'm going to be fine, Jesse," Violet assured weakly, "thank you."  Jesse licked his dry lips awkwardly. 
  "I know you don't want to hear about this... but Iris left the restaurant to... well... long story short, it's yours now."
  "No," Violet breathed weakly, shaking her head.  Jesse frowned. 
  "We'll talk about your options," he assured.  "I'm sorry."  Violet swallowed as Mike wrapped an arm around her.  Jesse didn't say anything as Mike comforted her, only a twinge of jealousy flashed across his face before he sobered. "I'll be in touch."
  "Thank you," Violet repeated.  The Officer nodded curtly, bidding them farewell. He looked longingly at her as he swung into the driver's side. Violet ignored him, turning away until the police car had driven off.
  "Come with me," Mike said. Violet blinked.
  "What?"
  "To New York," Mike explained, "I've got a decent appartement, there's more than enough room for you until you can get your own place... or not. Hell, you could stay with me."
  "Mike," she sighed, shaking her head. Mike stopped, his face falling. "I can't... I've... I've got to go my own way." She looked off in the direction of the truck that had taken the animatronics. "I've been waiting around my whole life for someone to take care of me... I guess I should start taking care of myself."
  "Where will you go?"
  "No idea," she grinned, "somewhere..."
  "Are you excited?"
  "Yeah," she admitted, "yeah I am." Mike smiled. "I look forward to reading your paper."
  "I'll be... censoring, some things," he reasoned. "But I think it'll be good."
  "It will be," Violet assured. The two stood in comfortable silence. "I should go."
  "Right," Mike agreed, "you look like you're freezing." She chuckled and nodded.
  "Yeah... I am." Mike hesitated.
  "I know you don't like goodbyes, so..." he started, but he was interrupted by her wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her tightly.
  "Goodbye, Mike," she whispered. He relaxed.
  "Goodbye, Violet."