Important: This is the sequel to 'Can't Go Home Again'. If you haven't read it, or haven't read it in its entirety, then you might be confused. Just a head's up! ^-^

Mable: Well, I can't believe I'm doing this… Heck, I can't believe I'm starting this before my novel is finished, but here I am excited and terrified to begin again! Welcome back once more, and I hope you enjoy!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter One

"Third Child goes Missing: After the disappearances of two children in the Hurricane area- names and photos below- eleven-year-old Jason Coleman has also gone missing. While this is the first of the disappearances outside of the city limits, Jason lived within the city, and it is believed to be connected to the previous disappearances. Jason was last seen outside of Magictime Theater and Arcade located on Highway Fifteen. Family members and rescue workers have already begun to search the desert alongside the highway for signs of foul play."

"Alright." Mike Schmidt set the newspaper aside on the dining room table and crossed his arms as he took in what he had just read. "This has just been promoted from moderately disturbing to an actual problem."

It had been easy to pretend that the first child was a fluke. Then it had been harder to swallow that the second missing child was a coincidence. Now there were three, and there was no doubt that there would be more.

Mike looked at the slender, striped animatronic standing in front of him, who was currently facing away. His striped arms were folded over his chest as he tried to somehow withhold his obvious concern. The Puppet had been understandably on edge when news got around about two disappearances, but now that there was a third one he was positively restless. Three missing children in the last three weeks; it was a terrible sign.

"When did this one go missing?" Marionette quietly asked. He slightly turned his head to look back towards Mike, all while dread painted his mask. Mike looked back at the newspaper to check.

"Friday afternoon. Wasn't at the same time of the day and wasn't the same day of the week… But it was five days after the last one. I don't remember if the one before that was five days too, but that could be a pattern if it was," Mike revealed. He pushed it further away and took a swig of his coffee. The caffeine was the best thing to swallow the growing feeling of dread. "We'll have to keep watch."

"That poor child…" Marionette raised a hand to cover his mask. "Those poor children. Why wasn't anyone with him? So young, and in broad daylight!"

"I guess because he wasn't in the city," Mike suggested with a semi-shrug. He didn't mean to seem disinterested, but he didn't have any other immediate ideas and didn't want to get worked up when there was nothing he could do. "Do we know Magictime Theater?" Marionette shook his head while still covering his face. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that we probably should. When we get into work, I'll see if any of the others have heard about it. Better safe than sorry."

Mike wasn't callous enough to suggest the possibility that this was somehow connected to Freddy's. He would suspect it inwardly without worrying the Puppet by saying anything more than that. With another exhale, Mike stood from the table and walked over to the animatronic. He laid a hand on Marionette's back to comfort him, even when he knew he couldn't.

"We should head over to the pizzeria. Maybe we'll have enough time that I can run all this by Fritz and Jeremy. Maybe one of them has heard about this place," Mike suggested. Marionette nodded stiffly; it wasn't as though he wanted to stay at home with his thoughts anyway.

The last month had been a brutal sort of reminder for a town that had dealt with 'missing children' years before. In a matter of one day, a child was gone, and the past had come to haunt them once again. Then there went a second child, and now here was a third, and still nobody knew anything. It was a devastating revelation for both Mike and Marionette. Yet they still went into work as though it was a normal workday. In a way it was, being that they had no immediate connections to the three children, but it was hard to pretend that they weren't distracted.

Foxy's pizzeria was still managing to do well even though parents should've been afraid to let their children wander free. More parents did come in with their children, thankfully, but that didn't mean that they were all supervised, and it became clear that the staff would have to keep an eye out.

Mike and Marionette let themselves into the back of the pizzeria. The Puppet immediately started heading into the dining room and to the Prize Corner. He had been quiet, obviously lost in thought, but Mike let him go and instead looked in the office. Seeing that nobody was there, he helped himself to the computer and started it up. "Let's see if we can find anything on this Magictime Theater," Mike mentally remarked as he went to the search engine and typed the name in.

While the pizzeria didn't have its own website- alas, Foxy's didn't either- there were a few online articles about the business. It certainly wasn't the most popular restaurant if the lack of information was any sort of indication. One of the results was simply a recap of the boy who went missing outside of the theater. The other result was much more helpful, as it was an article detailing information about the restaurant.

"This is only from last year. So, it's a new place?" Mike was slightly confused, especially as, by now, he saw pictures of animatronics and knew that it was some sort of animatronic theater like Chipper's. "I'll be damned, I found Chipper's only competition." He then scrolled down through the lengthy amount of basic information. At first nothing seemed amiss and he couldn't recognize anything that would stand out. "I'm going to need Fritz and Jeremy to take a look at this… Or to see if this place is even worth being in competition with."

He got lucky. Stepping out of the office, he immediately spotted Fritz bent over in the supply closet. From how he was sliding out small cardboard boxes and checking them, it seemed like he was looking for something. Mike stepped in behind him, "Hey Fritz-."

Fritz responded in an exaggerated display. He jumped, juggling one of the boxes, and then stood up so fast that he knocked over a couple of plastic wrapped cups. He looked back to Mike with a flustered look.

Mike sent him an unenthused one in return, "Let me guess: another long night with the HandUnit and a programming manual."

"Heh, you know me too well…" Fritz confirmed. Mike partially rolled his eyes at the comment. Ever since getting the challenge of reprogramming Baby, Fritz had been in a constant battle between working himself to death and resting. At first it had been because he was such a hard worker, but it was apparent that Fritz was becoming more frustrated and determined the longer that he made little progress. So far, he had not even reached the point to wake and test Baby, and it was clearly eating at him. "What's up?"

"Another kid went missing," Mike answered. He noticed Fritz's slight cringe. "Yeah, I know. It's that bad. Anyway, it was outside some place called Magictime Theater and I'm trying to find out something about it. I looked online and there's practically nothing about it." The technician furrowed his brows in thought. Before he could respond, an answer came from an unexpected source.

"I saw it on the news last night," Jeremy announced from right behind Mike. The security guard jolted and spun around to face the younger man.

"Thanks for the warning, Jere. You might've given me a heart attack if you just popped up behind me without saying anything," Mike remarked sarcastically. Fritz leaned in behind him and muttered.

"Let me guess: another long night with the Puppet and a programming manual?" Fritz inquired with a smirk. Mike sent a slight glare back at him.

"I bet you think that was clever," Mike quipped. "It wasn't." Fritz still smiled as though it was the best comeback possible. Considering that he got such a strong reaction, he had a feeling it was. Seeing that he was losing control of the conversation, Jeremy cleared his throat and tried to reign it back in.

"But yeah, I saw it on the news. It's a lot like Chipper's. Or what Chipper's was like before they expanded. They've got four or five animatronics, but they're sort of, you know… They're not really anything special, it didn't look like. They kind of looked like knock-off Freddy's," Jeremy admitted. "But I think they've been open longer that Foxy's."

"I got that impression too. The knock-off part, not the open longer part," Mike agreed. "Did you see the bear one? It looked like Freddy's drunk uncle, and I swear I saw Orville the elephant. Now that's a seal of quality if I've ever seen one," he cracked with a smirk. "I can't believe we're expected to consider this competition."

"Okay, you both got me curious. Let's go see this drunken Freddy," Fritz coaxed. Mike and Jeremy both agreed, and they headed back to the office. Fritz dropped into the chair wearily and looked at the webpage that it had been left on. Mike leaned on the desk beside him while Jeremy stood behind them, peering over both of their shoulders. Fritz scrolled down to a low-quality picture of three animatronics standing on a stage. His brows raised immediately. "Yeah, I recognize them."

"Of course!" Mike said with exasperation. "Because if missing children are involved, then of course it involves Freddy's!"

"Don't get too twisted up about it yet. I said I recognized them, not that we need to be concerned." Fritz tapped on the screen above the animatronics. "These characters were pretty much absorbed by Fazbear Enterprises a long time ago, but I- and I might be wrong- I think they were sold off afterwards. They weren't popular, they weren't authentic, and I don't think I even saw them in more than maybe one restaurant. And even then, they were just temps for when the main cast was down."

"So, they don't belong to Freddy's?" Mike asked in confusion.

"Probably not," Fritz agreed. "I don't know. Either they bought them when Freddy's went fully under or they're the last restaurant from that last chain. Freddy's bought out a lot of the small pizzerias in the area, you know. Animatronic pizzerias got popular, people opened them, and then I'm assuming that either William or Henry swooped in and put them out of business."

"Sounds like a great way to make friends," Mike quipped. "…Doesn't really explain why the kid went missing there."

"Well… I don't know. That is suspicious," Fritz agreed. "But, I mean, Purple Guy's long gone. Couldn't be him. Not sure why a copycat would hit there and not here."

"Don't jinx us. Mari's worried enough as it is," Mike murmured. They fell into a moment of silence until Jeremy cleared his throat.

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong… On the news, they said that the other two disappearances were in town, nowhere near that theater. So, maybe whoever is taking these children actually isn't connected to Freddy's at all!" Both workers silently exchanged a doubtful look. "Hear me out. What if this is just another man or woman kidnapping kids who just went to that theater because they didn't want to risk getting caught in town again?"

"…That's actually not a bad idea," Fritz admitted. "I mean, yeah, for us it all seems connected, but if we're honest with ourselves kidnappings like this happen all the time across the country. Besides, this place?" He tapped the screen again, "This place has a clean record if there's this little information on it."

"I second that," Mike almost reluctantly agreed. He wasn't sure how much he believed this, but there was little evidence that this truly was a Freddy connected incident. For once, he decided to stay blissfully unaware a bit longer, and pretended that his suspicions didn't exist.

Fritz gave a tired exhale and looked towards Mike. "Just keep an eye out whenever you get over there, and if they ask we're looking to buy something…" Fritz then looked back again. "And if you see anything they're willing to sell, then buy it. We could use whatever."

"I'm fine with that, but I'm less clear on this 'when I get there' thing. I'm not heading over there," Mike insisted. Fritz and Jeremy both looked surprised, which Mike noticed as he looked between them. "I'm serious. Chipper's, Hickory's, Afton's, Chance's- Even a broken clock's right twice a day. I can't afford another hospital visit."

"Oh… Alright, well. If you end up there then it still applies," Fritz remarked. He looked back to the screen while Mike continued staring at him.

"…You think I'm going straight up there after work, don't you?" Mike accused flatly.

"I didn't say that…" Fritz answered. His tone was still rather suggestive to it though. "…But yes, I am thinking it."

"You need more sleep, Fritz. Your truth-to-lie filter is botched," Mike remarked. He then straightened and headed to the office door. "I'm going to go get everything ready for opening." As he started out, he was briefly interrupted by a question from Jeremy to Fritz.

"Hey, is that Orville the Elephant?"

There was no way Mike was going to the theater anytime soon.

Marionette had only just returned to the Prize Corner after a long couple of hours feverishly circling his track around the front door. He had originally hoped that he would able to put aside his worries just enough to function rationally, but he couldn't. He was too on guard to perform or interact properly. Thankfully, Foxy was picking up the slack, but this was because he had been rather determined in not hearing about the disappearances. He saw the first report and then made it clear that he wanted to try staying in the dark. The restaurant depended on it.

Yet Marionette was not capable of putting it aside and it was beginning to show. Even while passing out tokens and exchanging tickets, he was becoming flustered and distracted. That was why he had eventually forced himself back to the Prize Corner. He couldn't keep staring at the door, waiting for someone who wouldn't appear. That never worked with the Purple Man and he knew it wouldn't work in this case either. That didn't mean he was anymore comfortable in his box. He tried to keep distracted looking over the prizes, but his mind was a tangle of thought threads.

He needed a distraction. As though an answer to this, it was then that she appeared outside the Prize Corner.

It would've normally been odd to see what was effectively a college-aged girl entering a children's pizzeria who neither worked there nor was escorting someone. It almost surprised Marionette, or it would've if he hadn't recognized her off the bat. Longer brown hair, soft facial features, vaguely distant look; it was Charlie, the daughter of Henry Johnson. Or more specifically, the daughter of who had been Golden Freddy.

Why this was so peculiar was that since that night where Marionette told her the truth, which felt like so long ago, Marionette had not seen or heard a word about Charlie. They simply hadn't crossed paths and, considering that he now had to worry about the children and couldn't afford to worry about her too, that didn't seem like such a terrible thing. He wasn't too surprised that she would be distant after he had effectively told her that her father, who she thought died in a simple accident, had become the soul of an animatronic bear.

Charlie looked into the Prize Corner and her eyes transfixed onto his mask. As though in a trance, or slightly hesitant, she slowly entered the room and approached his box. He rose higher to meet her and was glad that there weren't any children nearby. The girl looked off towards the prizes for a moment before gaining her nerve to speak. "Is this a bad time? Are you free to speak?"

"…Yes, unless someone comes in," Marionette answered quickly. "I didn't expect you to come here looking for me, but I am glad to see you again." He noticed her peculiar body language and how uncomfortable she seemed. "…I don't suppose this is a friendly call, is it?"

"No, it's not," Charlie admitted. She gave a tired sigh and met his gaze again. Her distant look melted into a much more somber one, "I'm sure you heard about the children that disappeared? I knew the most recent one, Jason." Marionette didn't hide the slight widening of his eyes at the revelation. "He's my friend's younger brother… I don't know if you saw the news, but he disappeared at an animatronic pizzeria down by St. George."

"It's an animatronic theater I believe, and yes, I've heard of it," Marionette answered. He leaned on the edge of his box, "I saw the newspaper this morning, but I… I was keeping an eye out after the last two."

"So, you don't know anything else?" Charlie inquired. She almost seemed surprised and perhaps a bit disappointed. "What about this place they were talking about? Have you been there?"

"Not yet. Today was the first time I even heard word of it… Which is peculiar considering that we were aware of most locations in the area. It's either not doing well or truly is out in the middle of nowhere."

"I drive by it almost daily," Charlie revealed. "But I never thought anything of it. I didn't even know that he knew about the place, or that anyone was planning on taking him there. I think he went with a couple of friends and someone's folks, but there's just details that I can't ask about… Which was why I was hoping that you would know." Her gaze lowered back to the floor and she folded her arms loosely.

Marionette wasn't sure how to feel. He was surprised first and foremost, and perhaps a little glad that Charlie felt safe enough with him to come to him with her worries. Though there was also an unyielding disappointment, because he knew absolutely nothing about the situation at hand. It was eating at him on the inside, and he had a suspicion that those were feelings she shared, but there was little he could say.

"I've been thinking about going over there myself and checking around," Charlie admitted. For the faintest split second, Marionette was washed over by dread and protectiveness.

"No. Don't do that," he nearly commanded. He raised his head and stared her down as his fingers tightened on the box. "It's not safe when we have no idea what we're getting into."

"But they won't suspect anything. I can walk right in and they'll just think I'm a customer," Charlie pointed out. "Or I can just- I can go at night and look through the windows. I have to do something."

"Let us say that there is someone at the theater who has been kidnapping children. That person could be dangerous, for we can assume that he would want to cover his tracks," Marionette explained. She looked ready to disagree and his fingers tightened again. She was headstrong, just like Mike was. However, unlike Mike, Marionette couldn't keep a constant eye on Charlie, and certainly wasn't close enough to her to convince her to stay. "If you are thinking of going over there-…" He knew that look and made up his mind. "…Then don't, and I will go instead."

"What?" Charlie asked in confusion and slight surprise.

"I promised your father I would protect you." Or something along those lines. Goldie never asked for that outright, but Marionette believed that it was implied. "And I… I want to protect the children too. The thought that someone could be… If there is something happening, and that theater is involved, then let Mike and I go first and scout out what we see. It is already possible that it was just a target due to its closeness to town."

"…Thank you." He managed to get a smile out of her. It was a small one, but it was a smile, and he considered that a victory. There was a moment of silence between them.

"I've had dreams about him," Charlie admitted with a disgusted grimace. Marionette tilted his head curiously. "Of the murderer- the Purple Man- suddenly appearing alive and well, being behind this, secretly returning to finish what he started years ago." She shuddered at the thought and he resisted his own. It made sense for her to be worried, especially since he had shielded her by not giving too many of the details. He wondered if she would've trusted him as much if he had told her about his connection to the man.

"…You're certain he's dead, right?" Marionette nodded in assurance. "What did he die of? It wasn't any way where he could fake it or come back later, right?" While it was definitely a possibility that William would do such a thing, he knew that this wasn't the case.

"He died of excessive bacon consumption," Marionette remarked. "Along with being out of shape and possibly genetic predisposition." This had been a joke, but from Charlie's confused look she didn't realize it. "He died of a heart attack," the Puppet clarified. "He didn't fake his death. Trust me; the Purple Man is no longer a threat to anyone… Unless anyone is unfortunate enough to share an afterlife with him."

"That… Makes me feel a little better," Charlie admitted as she rubbed at her sleeve. Marionette reached for her and she looked to his hand with hesitation. Seeing her reluctance, Marionette retracted his arm.

"I will see if I can uncover anything else about the theater. If it means I must go over there myself, then so be it, but I'm asking you to please not do anything to risk yourself… Not until I risk myself and Mike. We're pretty used to this," Marionette quipped with his smile fully returning. He hadn't even realized that he had let his expression slip; no wonder she looked a bit anxious. "And we've been to much worse. You should've seen Chipper's before their big overhaul in the spring."

"I'll take your word for it," Charlie answered with that small, amused smile still there. At least they could end on a slightly more comfortable note. She crossed to the counter and fumbled around for a Foxy head topped pencil and a flyer, where she scribbled down a number on the back. "This is my number. Call me if you find anything, please."

Marionette agreed and accepted the flyer. She turned to head out as he slipped the paper into his box for future reference. That might've been the end of it, if not for Mike stepping in as soon as she stepped out. The Puppet's smile grew tense as he realized that the security guard must have heard every word of that. "Now let me explain-."

"I leave you alone for five minutes and you start getting girls' numbers. To think I trusted you," Mike remarked. Marionette was less than enthused by the crack but was slightly relieved that Mike didn't seem upset about the arrangement. Or at least, he wasn't upset enough not to joke about it. "You could've warned me before you made us reservations at the theater."

"I'm sorry. I know I should've spoken to you first, but I was on the spot and I caved," Marionette almost meekly apologized. He rubbed his arm guiltily as he looked down towards the floor. "I don't know if you heard but she intended on going herself, and I'm sure that will be putting her in some sort of danger. Especially if she slips over there after nightfall…" He moved to tap his fingers together thoughtfully. "…But of course, I wouldn't be trapping you into going. It is your choice."

"At this point, Fritz is already convinced that I'm diving straight there after work, so there's no point in disappointing him," Mike pointed out. "Could've lived without him being so smug about it, but you can't win them all." Marionette raised his head to look at him, but there was still that lingering guilt. Mike's features softened with a tired sigh, "You really think this place is connected, don't you?"

"I don't know what I'm thinking," Marionette admitted. "All I know is that not knowing is driving me mad. I feel like I need to do something, but I have no idea what!" His hands tightened together with an irritated hum of static. "I just can't stand not knowing."

"Yeah, well… To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely convinced that it's not somehow connected," Mike admitted. He paused only a moment before making his decision. "Alright, let's just do it. We'll go over there and check the place out."

"Thank you, Mike," Marionette thanked with a small smile appearing. "As soon as we close, we will head over there."

"Actually, I'm thinking of going now. If we wait until we're closed, then we're risking them being closed. Just teleport into the car and I'll put up the 'out of order' sign." Marionette looked absolutely shocked by the idea as Mike retrieved said sign from behind the prize counter.

"You're suggesting we just abandon work? I don't know if that's such a good idea," Marionette pointed out. He sent a wary look out into the dining room. "Foxy's having a tough time watching the children as it is, and if the prize corner is closed-."

"We'll stick Jeremy in here and the sign on the box. Nobody will ask, Foxy will be fine," Mike added. He approached the box again with a slightly smug smile, "Besides, I don't remember us having a boss."

"We don't, you do… But I'm lenient," Marionette playfully answered. He leaned over the edge of the box, reached for the security guard, and affectionately rested his hand on his shoulder. "Don't be too long," he added in, then vanished away before he could second guess it again. Mike proceeded to close the box and set the sign atop it. The sign was merely a plastic plate with the words "Taking a rest" painted on it along and finished with a small, cartoonish picture of his mask. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it worked well enough.

Mike passed by Jeremy on his way towards the hallway and stopped him. "Hey," he alerted as he stopped the man. "Don't tell Fritz, but Mari and I are taking off to see this theater. I need you to watch the prize corner." Jeremy stared at Mike blankly, seeming like he was trying to keep from smiling from how his mouth twitched. "Don't tell Foxy either, and don't get any ideas; this was Mari's plan." He had a feeling that Jeremy probably didn't believe him.

Mike had driven to St. George a few times in the last few years. While it was one of the closer cities, there weren't many reasons for him to pass through. It was the perfect place when he needed a hospital outside of town, but elsewise it didn't have much that held his interest. Not to mention that there wasn't much to see on the drive. The road between the two cities was mostly desert.

Though this did lead to one positive. About five minutes into the drive, once it became apparent that the roads were largely empty, and the desert was as barren as could be, Marionette moved into the passenger seat. He tilted back the seat enough that he would be beneath the window and propped his crossed legs on the dashboard. It was much more comfortable than being folded up in the backseat, especially since he was able to be in the air conditioning when it was such a warm day. Even now the sun was beating down.

It became apparent quickly that the radio wasn't going to be a viable option for entertainment. After passing three fuzzy music channels and a news cast that was purposely avoided, Mike ended up just turning the radio off entirely and switched to a discussion about the theater.

"Wasn't there a pig on that old Fredbear cartoon?" Mike asked seemingly out of the blue. "Because there's a dumpy looking pig animatronic at this place and Fritz was saying they were old Freddy's animatronics."

"Pigpatch? Yes, he was the token bully character," Marionette answered, almost lazily tilting his head to look in the human's direction. He then became curious, "…I don't remember him having an animatronic."

"Makes sense. Fritz said they were dragged in as temporary replacements whenever Freddy decided that he just wasn't going to function," Mike added in. "There was a hippo, some snake or alligator looking thing, and probably the most busted looking bear I've seen in a while. I can't imagine what pizzeria was bought out by Freddy's to get that thing."

"Oh, I wouldn't say anything was 'bought out'," Marionette quipped with an almost dark amusement. "Let's be honest with each other. Freddy's was a ruthless monster ran by a couple of ruthless monsters. They weren't above walking into a pizzeria with a mound of paperwork and demanding retribution for what may or may not be a legal knock-off."

"There's such a thing as a legal knock-off?" Mike asked with a small smirk.

"Depends on the color of the bear and the shape of the head," Marionette quipped back. "Everyone wanted to have their own Freddy-Bear."

"Couldn't understand it even if I wanted to," Mike remarked with the continuing smirk on his voice. "I have seen a few animatronics that look better on stage. Why have a clumsy bear stomping around like a dinosaur when you can watch something more appealing?"

Marionette folded his fingers together and rested them on his buttons as he watched Mike. His smile turned a bit coyer. "I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate time to be flirting with me, Mike." Mike chuckled at the blunt comment.

"I'm already skipping work to go hang out at the competition. Why not up the ante and start flirting with my boss while out in public and while driving?" Mike cheekily quipped back. "It's not like you don't know what you're doing, stretching out, trying to look cute."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm sorry to say that I don't do this to look appealing. I do this to get comfortable," Marionette said. He then readjusted his striped legs and smoothly moved himself to get comfortable again. "Anything else is an unintentional side effect."

"That's why you're a good entertainer. You're entertaining even when you're just lying there," Mike added. Then his focus suddenly shifted as his eyes fell on something off the side of the road. "Here we go, I think we're creeping up on it."

"Already?" Marionette asked in surprise and sat upwards abruptly. He then attempted to duck back down while peering over the edge of the window. As Mike had predicted, they were driving up on the parking lot of some sort of single level building. If not for the orange words mounted above the entrance that read "Magictime Theater & Arcade" it would've almost been missed. It certainly wasn't decorated as extravagantly on the outside. It wasn't even set up as nice as Foxy's, and the reflection on the windows made it almost impossible to see the inside.

"That's definitely it. I recognize it from the website," Mike muttered. He slowly turned to start to pull in and noticed a large group of cars parked at the edge of the parking lot. "I hope that's the search party and not customers, because if it is then this place actually is competition," he thought, deciding not to voice the opinion. Instead he decided to offer something else, "Maybe I should go in first and check to make sure the place is cleared out. I don't want to risk you sneaking around if the place is jam packed with already suspicious adults."

Marionette silently nodded and slipped into the backseat once more. Mike turned off the car and considered removing some of his uniform, but then settled on leaving it on. A man casing the restaurant after a child disappeared would be genuinely creepy, but a competitor coming to scout the location was only a little sleazy in nature. Mike would rather not be approached by the cops if he didn't need to be.

"I'll come tell you if I see something noticeable and we'll make plans to come back tonight if there's anything really disturbing," Mike suggested. He started to open the car door when a hand slipped out and took his arm. The black fingers pet over him affectionately, but there was also a lingering hesitation in the touch, and silent worry.

"Be careful," Marionette forewarned. "…And keep an eye out." Mike agreed to both conditions, but he doubted that he would see much of anything. This left Marionette alone with his thoughts and memories. With Mike gone, he was left here with limited information and an infinite amount of questions. He could only hope that the children were still alive and safe wherever they were.

…Because if they weren't, it had been too long to bring them back. Marionette wouldn't have any gifts to give.

Mable: Alright, so the plan is for weekly updates, but if all goes well I might be able to post chapter two sooner than later. ^-^ I hope you enjoyed and continue reading!