Chapter 1

The Mechanical Bear

Pitter, patter, pitter, patter.

Charlotte Stillwater watched, mesmerised as the rain splatted onto the windscreen of the car. She smiled absentmindedly as she passed a familiar sign on the road.

Welcome to Hurricane, Utah.

Familiar sights came and went as she drove, a movie theatre, a library, the house of an old friend. But there was one place which caught her eye. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, the best thing which she could remember about her childhood.

xXx

She watched happily as 3 anthropomorphic animals performed on stage. There was Freddy Fazbear, the leader of the group. He was a brown bear with blue eyes, wearing a black top hat and bowtie, and held a microphone in his right hand, which he sung into enthusiastically. Next was Bonnie the bunny, a purple rabbit with pink eyes, strumming a glistening red guitar in his paws. Then there was Chica the chicken. She wore a bib which said "Let's Eat!" and held a pink cupcake on a platter with her left hand, which stared creepily at the audience. And Charlotte, or Charlie as her friends called her, knew that in another room on a small stage, there was a red pirate fox named Foxy, who entertained the kids by himself just as much as the 3 combined on the main stage.

It was a beautiful thing, really, to know that her father had been the one to create all of this, the animal mascots, the voices which came from them, and the company itself. This was where she was most at home. Her paradise.

xXx

But then again… it was also the worst part. Almost. There was something else, something worse. Way, way worse.

xXx

Aunt Jen carried Charlie, covering her eyes as she hurried through the room. But she could still see. The dark red pool of blood, steadily spreading against the wooden floorboards. Her father's body, completely still. And the robot, holding the bloodstained knife.

She was already old enough to understand that it wasn't the robot's fault. Her father had done this, on purpose. But she didn't know why. And she never would.

xXx

Aunt Jen had taken her away after that, away from Hurricane. She had never seen it again, not until now. Hadn't even passed by. But now, she was back, moving into her old house.

She didn't even know why, to be honest. Nostalgia's sake, perhaps? But whatever her reason was, she was here now. That was all that mattered.

Her eyes broke away from the main road as the memory ended abruptly, towards the ominous shape of her old house, which seemed to overshadow the other, almost insignificant houses by comparison of size. The peeling paint didn't really help either, just adding to the list of unwelcoming things about the old house.

She shook her head as she pulled into the driveway, the sound of tyres crunching against the gravel snapping her out of her momentary mind blank.

This isn't about memories, or the good times. This is about your future.

She hesitantly pulled the rusty keys out of the pocket of her jeans, noticing the small sparkles that poked through the grime, and smiled a little. Just a little.

It's time to leave the past behind. And to do that, I have to face it.

She opened the car door, playing with a strand of her long brown hair as she got out. She walked up the creaky wooden steps, and placed her hand against the door.

Come on then. Open the door.

Slowly, she inserted the key into the keyhole, and turned it.

Creak…

Slowly, the door creaked open, showing a dark hallway, lined with red carpet. Charlie took a deep breath, and slowly walked down the dimly lit corridor, placing her hand onto a familiar light switch. Holding her breath, she flicked it on, and the light, despite its age, surprisingly flickered to life, brightening the hallway. She strode past the basement door and the kitchen, her eyes fixed on a creaky wooden staircase ahead of her.

However, as she passed the living room, she had to stop herself. For some reason, the light in the living room had never worked. Every time her father had changed the light, even if it was brand new, it had always refused to work in that one room, and had even been deemed irreparable. It was almost as if the house had known beforehand what was going to happen in that room…

Her eyes were instantly drawn to the dark stain on the floor. It no longer spread, but it would still continue to haunt her. Forever.

She sighed and walked up the stairs, dragging her left hand against the wall as she did so, causing small flakes of paint to fall to the floor. She slowed her pace as she neared the door at the top of the stairs. Her old bedroom door.

If you're going to live here, you need to try and leave the past behind.

Hesitantly, she turned the doorknob, so that the wooden door swung open, with surprising speed. She smiled as she was greeted by her old, childhood toys, even if they were now rusty and decomposed.

First there was Theodore, a purple rabbit with a red bowtie, who sat on a chair beside the window. But his colour was now faded to a dull grey, thanks to the constant rays of sunlight. Then there was Stanley, a mechanical unicorn. He went around Charlie's room on a small track, like a train. His face was now rusted off. Finally, when Charlie turned a small wheel by her bed, a doll named Ella would come out of her small closet, carrying a tray as if preparing for a tea party.

Charlie sighed as she recalled her happy childhood memories. She sat down, tired on the bed, picking Stanley up from his track and stroking him gently.

Things will never be the same.

Slowly, she placed Stanley back down on his track, and patted him on the head.

"Stay there." She whispered softly, before springing up and heading down the stairs. She would have to leave the memories for later. For now, she just needed to see an old friend.

xXx

As Charlie stood in front of the house, seeing Jessica again suddenly seemed like a bad idea. It had been 10 years since they had last met, 10 years since the incident, 10 years since Michael. In fact, she hadn't even told Jessica that she was coming.

Well, you're already here. You might as well.

Without hesitation, she pressed the doorbell, then instantly regretted it when the ding sounded, and footsteps were heard approaching the door.

As the door opened, a familiar looking face popped out.

"Hello?" Jessica said, as she poked her head out from behind the door. "Can I help you…?" Charlie rolled her eyes and grinned.

"You don't remember me, Jessica?" She asked, smiling. Jessica frowned momentarily. "Uh…" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Oh. My. God. Charlie? Oh my god, Charlie!" She yelled, running out and giving her old friend a hug.

"Oh, god. Jessica, give me a break." Charlie groaned, though she was still grinning.

"I can't." She laughed happily, before releasing Charlie. "I haven't seen you for like, 15 years!"

"10, actually." Charlie corrected. "Yeah, well, whatever." Jessica tossed back her ponytail, before motioning towards the inside of her house. "Come on."

"Things have been… different." Jessica muttered as Charlie stepped in hesitantly. "After you left, the others followed." She sighed and sat down into a red armchair. "Now there's only me and Marla. And Jason, if you want to count him." Charlie sat down opposite her, a serious expression on her face.

"If you don't mind me asking…" Charlie started. Jessica looked up curiously. "What?" "What happened to Freddy's?" Suddenly, Jessica's expression darkened. "They…" She shook her head. "After you left, the place got…well, new owners. But no one came, because of, well, you know. Michael." Charlie nodded, a feeling of sorrow overcoming her. "So it was closed down, again. To this day, it's still been there. People say that the place is… cursed. No one was brave enough to demolish it. We all felt like we had to let the memory… live. In honour of the dead."

Charlie smiled and stared down.

"That's…" She looked up at Jessica. "That's good." Jessica smiled.

"I guess."

Charlie stood up.

"Well this had been nice." Jessica grinned.

"Yeah." Charlie looked at the door. "I would stay longer, but…" She turned back towards Jessica. "I need to see the place one more time, you know?" Jessica stared at her, at first appearing surprised, but then her gaze went back to normal. "Of course. I understand." Charlie smiled, and then began heading back towards the door.

"Actually…" She spun around, confused. Jessica looked at her nervously. "Can I come with you?" Charlie looked at her curiously.

"Why…?" Jessica sighed quietly. "I never got to go there myself, you know? I wanted to, but there was no way I was going alone. So when everyone else left, and Marla refused… I guess this is just my chance to go too." Charlie nodded. "Right. Ok, you can come." Jessica smiled. "Thank you."

xXx

Silence. That was all. There were no cars which passed by this part of town, and there was no reason why there would be. The only building on this road was Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and it had been abandoned for a long time. This road was the penultimate example of desolation.

Charlie and Jessica stood on the doorstep of the abandoned pizzeria. The cracks in the concrete were so large, they could place her foot into a few of them.

"Well, are you ready?" Charlie asked Jessica, who nodded nervously.

"Absolutely." The latter lied weakly. Charlie gave Jessica a look of pity, before opening the surprisingly unlocked front door, and walking into the unending darkness.

She smiled instantly as she saw 3 animal mascots on the stage. They might have been deactivated, but they were still here. All 3 were slumped down, facing the ground, like they were dead, though that could not be possible. They were machines, and machines didn't die, because they never lived. Charlie walked up to Freddy and squatted down so that it seemed that he was looking at her.

"Hi Freddy." She said calmly. "Remember me?" But the bear didn't reply. He just stood there, his forever smiling face still shining, but really, there was no emotion in his gaze. It was a blank slate, something to be drawn on, but it would never really mean anything.

She smiled as she stood up. She turned towards Jessica, who was slowly trailing behind her, and looking around in wonder.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, me?" Jessica answered, as if snapping out of a dream. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that it's been such a long time, and I didn't even realise." Charlie smiled as she walked away from the main stage "15 years really does fly, huh? Well, I'm going to check Pirate's Cove. You coming?" "Uh yeah." Jessica said, taking one last look at Freddy before running off to follow Charlie.

The latter was just making her way down a short hallway, which led to a smaller stage, called Pirate's Cove. But it had almost never been open. For the first 5 days, it was bustling with children. But after that, for no obvious reason, it had been deemed out of order. She could still see the small, wooden sign.

Now, the sign was lying, dejected on the ground. It lay at the centre of a puddle of cold water, which no longer rippled. And behind there was a familiar purple curtain, dotted with stars.

"After all this time…" Jessica muttered. "I guess it's officially out of order now, huh?" Charlie sighed. "Yeah." She stepped up to the stage, Jessica still behind her. "But I kind of want to see him." Jessica froze. "Hold up… Foxy?" Charlie nodded. "Alright…" Jessica muttered reluctantly. Charlie reached out with one hand, and grasped the old curtain, preparing to pull it. However, as she was about to tug at the mouldy fabric, a new feeling overtook her mind.

"Actually…" She pulled her hand away from the curtain. "I think that Foxy kind of wants to stay by himself tonight.

"Whew." Jessica was unable to hide her relief. "We should go." Charlie muttered. "Before the memories beat us there." Jessica seemed unable to understand the sentence, but she nodded anyway, obviously eager to leave.

Jessica led the way back to the entrance. Charlie followed behind, not wanting to be left behind. But when she turned back to look at Freddy one last time, that was when it happened. Earlier, all 3 of the mascots had been slumped down in their deactivated positions, obviously not having been used for a long time. But now, there were only 2. Freddy was now standing properly, as if he was entertaining children again. It would have almost seemed natural, if not for the surreal glow in his eyes, like pupils. And both were staring directly at her, their gaze un-breaking.

"Charlie! Are you coming?" Jessica asked.

"Wh-What?" Charlie stuttered, now panicking as she whipped around. "Y-You don't see-" She was shocked when she turned around. Freddy was back in his slumped position. Slowly, her breathing composed itself. "Sorry. I thought I saw something." She said. "Right, okay." Jessica replied. "Um, then let's go." It was then that Charlie noticed the small pool of water at Freddy's feet, and the glowing dots reflected in them. Slowly, panic began to take control of her body again. "Right. We need to go." She moved so quickly to get out that the collided with Jessica and skidded to a stop before her car.

"Charlie, are you alright?" Jessica asked her, concern in her voice. Charlie shook her head and looked up, scared, at Jessica as she used the car to support herself.

"I don't know."

xXx

After that, Charlie was silent. Jessica had to drive her back home, and when they got there, Charlie stepped out of the car without a word, not even a goodbye or thank you. Jessica continued to watch her until she entered the house, before driving off herself.

Charlie shivered as she stepped into the house. But instead of heading up to her bedroom, she instead went left, taking the stairs down to her basement.

She slowly sat down and booted up her computer, which she had placed there previously. She knew all about the murders of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. They were the only thing which still haunted her a tonight. All she didn't know was who had done. However, as the search results came up, she knew who had.

William Afton, her father's business partner. The police had everything. Everything to prove him guilty, except for one thing. There were no bodies. The dead children were nowhere to be found, and so their murderer got away. But now she knew where they were.

Charlie pulled up a picture of the man. He looked innocent, like a lot of people. But only she knew that he wasn't. He was a sick, sadistic and horrible person, and the very same man who had killed one of her best friends.

She placed her palm against the screen, her eyes filled with hate.

"One day, I swear, if you haven't already, you will get what you deserve."