Chuck rode his bike to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The clouds were heavy and
dark, and there was a cold bite in the air. When he’d come home from
school, no one was there. Even though Chuck knew the house was empty,
he called out, “Hello? Pete?”
The refrigerator answered back with a low hum.
The house wasn’t very big, but it seemed huge and empty to Chuck. He
used to want to be old enough to stay home by himself. Now that he’d
gotten his wish, he wished for company.
Mom had finally been able to go back to work after weeks of crying.
Dad was also at work. Somehow the grief of losing Pete had reunited his
parents, and Dad had moved back home after the funeral. One day, Chuck
watched them both clean up Pete’s room. They picked up the dirty clothes,
threw away some garbage, made his bed, and closed the door. It hadn’t been
opened since.
Chuck hadn’t met up with his friends in a while. He was supposed to be
home doing his homework. But something had been driving him to go back
…
Back to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Back to see Foxy.
He’d never told anyone what he and Pete had really thought about Pete’s
freak accidents. How they believed the trouble had started, or why they had
planned to meet at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza to face Foxy once and for all.
For weeks, Chuck had felt
this heaviness on his chest, like he was
supposed to do something that he never got to do, like he had a puzzle that
was incomplete.
He’d replayed Pete’s last message over and over since the funeral.
“Chuck! You were right! It’s been Foxy all along. I have to go back to
face him! Freaky stuff is still happening, but no way is Foxy going to win,
Chuck. No freaking way! I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, little bro! Meet me
there as soon as you can! We can finish this together!”
Pete’s death nagged at Chuck day and night. Sometimes, when he was
sitting
in class, the bell would ring and he’d realize the period was over
before he’d noticed it had started. He was falling behind in every subject.
Teachers stared at him, but no one said much. They all knew he’d lost his
brother. They all knew he’d changed. Chuck sat alone at lunch, writing in
his notebook, filling it with notes, ideas, and scenarios on what could have
happened to Pete and how they could have stopped it all before Pete had …
gone.
Well, no more what ifs. Chuck was done wondering.
He locked his bike on the bike rack in front of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
When he stepped through the doors, the familiar scent of pepperoni wafted
over him. The pings and musical game sounds vibrated around him. He
walked through the arcade and saw a group of kids huddled around a game.
That used to be him. He’d always loved this place—until that fateful day,
when Pete dragged him down the corridor to the maintenance room and
everything had changed.
He walked through the play area and over
to the birthday tables and
watched a couple of families sitting right in front of the stage. Everyone
looked so happy. The little kids were eating pizza, enthralled by the show of
the animatronics. Some were singing with their mouths full. The kids
clapped and cheered after the song finished.
Chuck walked toward the corridor that led to the maintenance room. He
looked over his shoulder
to see if anyone was watching, then he slipped
through. He walked slowly down the darkened hallway, past the old posters,
until he reached the door. He reached out for the handle and his hand shook.
He took a breath,
and pulled the heavy door open, stepping into darkness.
The door slammed at his back, the sound echoing in his ears.
He pulled out his inhaler as his breaths thinned, and took a puff. Then he
shoved his inhaler into his pocket and pulled out his phone light. He went
straight to the small stage and straight to the open control box. No more
wasting time.
A
shiver crawled down his back, but he ignored it. If he hesitated, he
knew he wouldn’t do it and he’d been replaying this moment over and over
in his head. He had to do it. He had to find out what happened to Pete.
“This is for you Pete,” he said into the dark room. “I’ll face the villain
and beat the game.”
He braced himself and slammed down on the
START
button.
He waited for the curtain to pull back … for Foxy to begin to sing …
But nothing happened.
All Chuck heard was complete silence.
T
he stars looked like tiny pinpricks of light
shining through a sheet of
black velvet. Kasey lay on her back on a low stone wall, staring up at
the sky, feeling wonder at being even a small part of such a beautiful
universe. She remembered a nursery rhyme from when she was little, there
had been a coloring sheet in kindergarten with the nursery rhyme’s words
and a picture of smiling stars.
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