Lightning flashed across the sky, creating jagged streaks that lit up the night. A storm was brewing, and rain pounded against A house sat nestled in a small town, its inhabitants sleeping soundly in their beds, undisturbed by the howling wind that was causing the glass windows to rattle violently in their frames.

A child, Benjamin, sat up in his bed with wide, frightened eyes, panting heavily and soaked in his own sweat. He could hear the loud banging sound that was not from the storm. No, this was something much, much worse. Then the scratching started, claws raking against his bedroom door, and his pulse quickened, and his breathing came out in panicked gasps as he drew back the blankets and prepared himself for another night of running from his monsters.

He heard a voice beside him, kind and soft. Gentle. "What is it? What's wrong?" It asked. The child turned toward the source of this voice. His plush toy, a gold-colored bear whom the child referred to as 'Golden Freddy,' or sometimes just 'Freddy' for short, sat on the bed, its eyes glowing white in the darkness of the room.

"They're back," he squeaked out, his voice dripping with absolute fear and dread, "The monsters are coming."

He grabbed his flashlight from the floor beside his bed, flicking it on and sweeping the beam of light across his room, searching for the monsters that had come to kill him. The closet door creaked open, and the child raced over to shine his light into it before the hook-handed fox jumped out of it and tore into him.

He slammed the closer shut, running over to his bedroom door to check the hallways. He stopped and listened for the breathing sounds that the monsters emitted when they were standing just outside his door. Hearing nothing and seeing no threats in the halls at that moment, he closed the door and checked the other hallway, seeing nothing.

The darkness hung over him like a thick fog, his nightmares dwelling within the inky blackness, keeping him prisoner in its cold, evil grip. He was trapped in this room until morning, when the light would free him from this nightmare. He only hoped that his family was alright by themselves. He hoped the monsters hadn't caught them yet.

The closet door began to open again, and as Benny went to close it, one of his bedroom doors began opening as well. Knowing that he could not prevent both monsters from getting in at the same time, but wanting to try anyway, he instead quickly shut his closet door and rushed over to shut the other door, but just as he reached it, the door swung open and forcefully slammed against the wall, making a dent in the plaster.

The child stood there, rooted to the spot as the hulking figure of an animatronic bear stood in the doorway. The bear's suit was ripped and tattered in several places on its body, exposing wires and circuits, some of which were sparking and creaking with strain and damage. Parts of its endoskeleton were also visible, rusted and cracked, slick with blood and oil. It's teeth were as sharp as knives, and just as long, gleaming as the moon's light reflected off of them.

Benny quivered with fright, as the monster stomped up to him and roared, loud enough to wake the dead. The child screamed and darted to his bed, snatching up Freddy and covering himself with his blankets, shaking and crying with fear as he retreated to his 'safe place' under his covers. He buried his face into Freddy's soft fibers, listening carefully for growling or breathing.

"Don't be afraid. They are not real," Freddy said, attempting to soothe the child's fears. "Your mind is only tricking you into believing that what you see before you is real, it is distorting your reality. This is all in your head."

"Can you see and hear them, too? No one else can."

"Yes, I can hear them. They are something to fear, certainly. They are the stuff of nightmares. They are incapable of harming you, though. That's the good news."

Benny was about to respond to his friend, when he heard heavy footsteps enter his room and stop just shy of him, at the foot of his bed. He held his breath and tried to be as quiet as he could. The footsteps moved, this time stopping directly beside him.

He held Freddy tighter against his chest, his trembling and breathing becoming worse as he could hardly breathe now. Freddy gazed up at his human friend, his eyes glowing softly in the dark. "Relax. Deep breaths. You can get through this, you just need to calm down before you damage yourself even further."

"I…I can't, Freddy. The monsters are gonna get me, and they're gonna stuff me into a suit. They're going to kill me," Benny whimpered, gasping silently as he struggled to breathe.

"I will not let them harm you, Benny," His friend whispered, "Lay with me, and I will show you what your mind cannot. Your head is displaying to you false images, things that no one, especially a child like you, should ever see."

The monster by his bed roared again, and Benny flinched and screamed again, covering his ears in a desperate move to protect himself. He lay down in his bed, burying his head in his pillows and crying. His plush snuggled up against his chest, reaching up to gently stroke his child's face with a clawed hand, "Don't cry. I am here with you. There is no need for you to be scared anymore. Just close your eyes, and this all will stop. The monsters will go away, and you will be safe, I promise you."

Benny did as he was instructed, closing his eyes, and waited. Five seconds went by, then ten, then twenty. Nothing changed. He could still hear the monsters roaming the house, and the animatronic bear still stood in the same spot he had been in for the last few minutes. Benny opened his eyes. "It's not working, Freddy. They're still here."

"They are still here with us because you are still scared. They are feeding off of your fear, and they will not leave until you realize that they cannot harm you. Until then, they will remain here, leaving you trapped in this house for all of eternity."

"How do I make them stop? How do I make the monsters go away?"

"I will help you with that. First, you will need to get out from under your blankets."

Benny's eyes widened in fear, and he began shivering from a combination of fear and cold. "NO! No, please don't make me! I don't want to," He whispered, his voice quiet and scared.

"I will keep you safe," Freddy responded soothingly, as he nuzzled the child's arm, "Don't be scared. I will not leave you, but you have to do this if you want them to go away,"

Benny shook his head, tears sliding down his face. "I can't. I don't want to die. My family will-"

"Your parents cannot help you, and I will remind you that they cannot see these things. They will only tell you that it is all a bad dream, and when they leave, the monsters will return to us. Nothing will change that." Feeling his shivers, he placed a hand on Benny's forehead, "You're cold."

Benny did not respond, as he heard yet another monster enter his room. He slowly peeked out of his blankets to see which one it was. This particular one was a lavender colored bunny, its ears long and tattered, a bow tie around its neck. Like the other animatronics, its suit was also ripped and ruined, with huge pieces of its endoskeleton exposed in various places on its body, and its teeth were long and sharp, its mouth hanging open on broken jaws.

The robot's eyes were milky white, and its hands ended in long, knife-like claws. There was nothing covering its chest cavity, as it was ripped open, and exposed the still working innards of the beast as it sparked and twitched violently, growling low and deep, its damaged voice box causing the sounds coming from the device to be garbled, static- filled, and warped. The child gasped and quickly retreated back under his blankets in fear.

"I know this is difficult for you to believe, and I know that you fear them, but please trust me," Freddy gently placed a claw under Benny's chin and lifted it so that the child was staring into his glowing eyes, the white light emitting from them doing little to comfort him, "They are only hallucinations that your mind has created to frighten you. The monsters that you see before you are imaginary, they are not really there. You have to believe me."

"But they're so mad at me, Freddy. They're so mad, and I don't know what I did to them. I don't remember. What did I do?"

"They are not mad at you, Benny. They are just desperate to have you. They want to turn you into one of them." The golden bear was silent for a moment, choosing his next words carefully, so as not to scare his friend further. "I need you to do something for me."

"Okay. What is it?" Benny whispered.

Freddy reached up and wiped away the tears that fell from the child's eyes. "I need you to reach out and place your hand on the monster that is standing beside the bed. Can you do that for me?"

"But then they'll know where we're hiding," Benny responded, turning his head to momentarily glance in the direction of the animatronic bunny that towered over him, noting its red eyes glowing eerily in the darkness, sending a shiver down the boy's spine.

"Everything will be alright. You are safe with me," Freddy whispered, snuggling closer against Benny as his shivering intensified, attempting to warm his friend with his own heat. "Go on. Reach out."

The child did as he was asked, extending a shaking arm to place it upon the thing that stood before him, and gasped with surprise when his hand went straight through it. "Freddy, they're like ghosts!"

"It is as I said, they cannot harm you. If they had been able to do so, you and I would not be here now. It is the same with the rest of them."

"Do you think that it's safe to get out of bed now?" Benny wondered.

"Yes," His friend responded immediately. He pointed into the darkness. "Do you see that lamp in the corner of the room?"

Benny followed his gaze. "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"I need you to plug it into that outlet there. The light will make the monsters go away."

The child nodded and got out of his bed, holding his plush in his arms. He retrieved the lamp and plugged it into the outlet by his bed, flicking it on. The monsters screeched and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, their cries echoing throughout the room before fading away, leaving them in silence.

"The others will be coming soon, but you needn't worry too much about them. They will not be able to venture into the light, or they too will vanish. The darkness belongs to them now, but as long as you stay within the light, they are essentially harmless."

"That's good. They're still scary, though." Benny responded as he climbed back into his bed, pulling the covers over himself as he lay down and settled against his pillows, his plush snuggling up against his chest again, continuing to soothe him.

Freddy gazed at his friend, his eyes twinkling with concern. "Yes, they are intimidating."

Benny moved to glance behind him at the monsters that still remained outside of his room, growling at him, but before he could do so, Freddy reached out and gently prevented this, running a clawed hand through his hair in a comforting gesture, "Don't look at them. Keep your eyes on me. Try to sleep."

Benny sighed as he began to relax, and allow himself to feel safe in his friend's presence, staring deep into his plush's eyes full of warmth and comfort, and the child felt himself begin to grow weary, and his eyes began to feel heavy as he fought to remain awake.

"Promise you won't leave me?" He asked, his words becoming slightly slurred as he was quickly succumbing to sleep, "Promise you'll still be here when I wake up?"

"I promise," he responded, still running his claws through Benny's hair, "I will always be here for you, and I will always be with you. Now, close your eyes, and rest."

Benny nuzzled him, and surrendered fully to his exhaustion, with Freddy cradled in his arms.