Everyone has precious childhood memories they hold on to. It’s not until you grow up when you realize those memories, are truly nightmares. I had recently finished my final year at school and had decided to enjoy my last summer vacation at my hometown.
It sounds strange since college is where all the parties and fun summer events are held. Also since this was the last time I could enjoy such events, but I’ve gotten a taste of it last year and it’s not my type of thing. My parents rarely use my childhood home anymore, they only use it in the beginning of each year for a month or two. So I decided to live there for the time being.
My parents told me they were fine with it over a phone call saying “As long as I pay the bills” which I was fine with. I hadn’t been in my hometown for a year so I lost my job as a grocery store bagger. I decided to resort to the newspaper ads since I was too lazy to go driving around town or searching online for one. I flipped through the employment section of the newspaper. Babysitter, no, exterminator, nah, newspaper delivery, nope. I did a good five minutes of scanning until I came across a rather interesting one. It was a job for one of my favorite childhood places, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
Freddy’s was an awesome place that my mother took me to whenever my father wasn’t in town or I just behaved long enough to get a special treat. Unfortunately, the job was for a security guard during the night. Not my ideal position but I just couldn’t turn down Freddy. I immediately circled the ad with my pen and called up the pizzeria. They said I could have the job without getting an interview. They just asked for my name, Mike Schmidt, and my age, 23.
I was then told that I could start this fall. November to be exact. I was a little surprised, this fall? I began to rethink even working here, but then I remembered all the cash I earned while at my job in college. I’d have enough money to get by a couple months before November. I decided to take the job. “Yes!” I cheered, knowing now that I have a job at one of my favorite childhood places ever, and that the job doesn’t take up any of my time during my day.
I then went upstairs to my old room to sleep, knowing I’d be alright this summer and coming winter. The next day, I decided to take a little tour of my old town. I did a good walk down Main Street, went through the community park, and even passed by Freddy’s. It was good to look at that place again. I didn’t want to go inside because I’m sure people would find it weird for a grown man with no child to walk into a children’s place of happiness.
Basically, I’d look like a p*******e. While walking down one of the busiest streets in my town, I saw a newspaper article stating “Murder Case of 5 Children Reopens” in bold letters on the top. I didn’t want to take too long of a glance at it, but then I realized that the picture to go along with the title was Freddy Fazbear. I was confused, and decided to take a copy and read it.
Supposedly, a man dressed up like Freddy Fazbear, and lured children away from their parents to kill them. I was shocked and disgusted with whoever would do this. The next couple of months weren’t eventful. None of my childhood friends returned home like I did, even knowing I was here. I saw some old relatives and my parents thought about visiting me, but blew me off. Heck, I even went out on two dates with this beautiful girl who I realized was just using me to get back at her ex.
I didn’t really even do anything special besides that. I just lied around on my couch watching movies and TV shows. Things went on and on like that until November came. November eighth to be exact. It was my first day on the job. I had little money left so it was good to finally start getting an income again. NIGHT #1 It was Monday night, and I was about to head out to the pizzeria.
I was a bit excited and worried at the same time. Excited because I was starting a new job at one of my favorite childhood spots and worried because I would be there all night. I was planning on sleeping the whole day to rest up for the rest of the night, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. “Oh well” I said to myself, not giving it too much thought. When I arrived at Freddy’s, a man was waiting outside for me.
“Hello, are you the owner here?” I asked.
“Who wants to know?” he responded.
“I’m Mike Schmidt, here for the night watch job.” I said.
“Oh yes! How could I forget? Who else would be here at 12 AM?” he chuckled.
“Neighborhood Watch?” I added, laughing slightly. “Are you the one who’s going to teach me the basics?” I continued.
“Naw, I’m just the owner, as you guessed. I’m here to just give you a pair of keys to the place. Your “mentor” left a message for you in the security office. Well, here you go!” he handed me the keys. “Remember, your shift always starts at 12 AM, and doesn’t end until 6 AM. You got it?” he asked, sounding a bit anxious.
“Yes, of course sir,” I replied.
“Good. Well, goodnight son. Don’t mess this up, or else you’re out!” he said, walking towards his car.
“Goodnight!” I called, but I do not think he heard me.
I then opened the door to the place. Fortunately he left it unlocked for me. Not that it’s much of a deal if it wasn’t. After all, I had keys. I then looked around the place. A huge sense of nostalgia hit me like a ginormous wave. I then recalled sitting at the party tables with my mother and friends, eating pizza and watching Freddy and the band sing. I then looked to the stage, there they were! “Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie.” Oh how nice it was to recite those names again.
After I relived my childhood memories, I then scanned the rest of the building, looking for the security office. My guess was that it was in the back of the building, which it was. I peeked in to see that there was no one in there. I walked into the room somewhat annoyed by the sounds of the rotary fan. I thought about turning it off, but then I realized how warm the room was. I had no choice but to keep it running.
I also noticed a little “beep” sound going off every couple seconds. I located the sound to be a message machine. I pressed the play button. A voice came on, I was surprised and wondered who it was. Was it my “mentor”?
“Hello? Hello, hello? Um, hi! I’m the old security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Hopefully you are getting this message, I need to explain to you what to do. Now, I’m actually finishing my last week here, that’s why you’re getting my job. I got my hours changed to 8-11:30 PM, since I didn’t have to up so late anymore. Sorry, that’s your job now! Now, um, let me explain to you the basics so you can get through your first week. Now, on the table you’re hopefully at, you should see a tablet.”
I glanced over the table and saw that the man was right. There was a large tablet with gray trim sitting on the table. I picked it up and turned it on.
“If you see it, turn it on. The first thing you should see is a camera view of the main show stage, along with a lot of different square b*****s on a map. Those square b*****s are actually all security cameras that you need to check every now and then to make sure someone or something didn’t break into this place. The map is actually a whole layout of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, so you can get a pretty good idea of where things are. Now, I know what you are thinking. Who in the right mind would sneak into a child’s place of fun? People aren’t the problem here, it’s actually the animatronics. You know, Freddy and his pals.”
I was confused. I tapped each camera looking around seeing if anything was in the building. There was nothing. “What I mean by that,” he continued, “is that the animatronics get a little quirky at night. They are left in some sort of free-roam mode at night for some reason and walk around the whole building. They used to be able to do that during the day, but then there was the “Bite of ’87”. Yeah, I don’t want to go too deep into that but let me just say that it’s shocking that the human body can survive without the frontal lobe.”
I was getting a little creeped out now, checking the cameras again to once more find nothing.
“I’m gonna move on now. Now, the characters here, when they see you, will not see you as a worker because it’s night time. They’ll actually see you as an “endoskeleton” without its costume on. Now, since that’s against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, they’ll try to forcefully shove you into a Freddy Fazbear suit. Now, that would not be so bad if it weren’t for the suits being filled with animatronic devices and crossbeams, especially around the facial area. So, um, you can understand that would cause a bit discomfort… and, um, death. The only parts of your body that would see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out of the front of the mask.”
I was absolutely shocked now, I didn’t know what to do. I checked the camera once more to see that Bonnie was no longer on the stage. I was filled with fear and anxiety while I checked the rest of the cameras. I then saw Bonnie standing in the audience area. I was so scared, and then paid close attention to what the man said next.
“I just want you to know that there is really nothing to worry about! It may sound scary, yeah, but really! You’ll be fine! Now, let me explain to you what happens if a character gets a little too close to you. Next to you, there are b*****s for each door. One for closing the door and the other for enabling the door lights.”
I tested it out. He was right, the doors and lights would open and close and turn on and off on command. I once again checked the cameras to see that Bonnie was in the hall right next to me. I was prepared to close the door if it came closer.
“Frequently check those lights to see if a character is out there. Don’t be worried at all, but if you ever do see a character, close the door. As soon as they are gone, you can open them back up. Also, keep an eye on a specific character in Pirate Cove. It seems to respond if the camera is on or off it for too long. Just don’t worry, you’ll be fine. First day will be a breeze. Check those cameras and, oh yeah, make sure you don’t run out of power. You only get a certain amount each night. Using all the appliances wastes more of it. So… conserve it! Talk to you tomorrow, goodnight!”
The message ended. I checked my cameras and sure enough, it had a power percentage there. It said I have 80%. Wow, 20 percent gone in five minutes. Maybe it’s because I left the screens on all this time. That might be a bad idea. What else did he say, a character in Pirate Cove? I never remembered that place as a child. I then checked through the cameras until I found Pirate Cove. There was a curtain there, but it was closed. I took that as a good sign.
I then checked the hall where Bonnie was to see if she was there. I came to the conclusion that with a name like Bonnie it must be a girl. She wasn’t there. I checked the next camera closest to me to see that she wasn’t there either. I was confused. She wouldn’t just leave the area. I then decided to check those door lights. Nothing on the right. Then I checked the left and to my disbelief. There was Bonnie… staring at me. I smashed that door button as hard and as fast as I possibly could. I was terrified, but then realized that they weren’t real people trying to hurt me, they were just robots.
I calmed down, and pressed the door light button to see if I could see Bonnie’s shadow or something. There was nothing showing that Bonnie was there. Hesitantly, I opened the door, and to my surprise, Bonnie wasn’t there. The night went on pretty similar to that. Bonnie got close to me a couple times and the curtain at Pirate Cove opened a little bit, but I saw nothing in there.
Chica and Freddy stayed on the stage, thankfully, and I finished the night with 14% power to spare. I overcame my fears of them trying to kill me and simply thought they were just trying to play. I left Freddy’s and went home to sleep the day way, I was exhausted.
–NIGHT #2–
After I grabbed some dinner at a restaurant, I drove on over to Freddy’s. This time, there was a vehicle just leaving. I didn’t know who it was, and it wasn’t the same car my boss had when he drove away last night. I shrugged it off and got out of my car. I unlocked the door and took a glance at the robots. They seemed to be looking at me, but I was facing head on with them and they were probably just left in that position. I headed back into the security office and saw that I once again, had another message. I pressed play.
“Hello, hello? Well, if you’re hearing this, you made it to day two! Congrats! Um, there’s nothing I really have to say tonight then emphasize the use of your door lights. There are in fact blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be just outside your door! So just remember to check those frequently. Well that’s it! I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight!”
I took what he said into account and checked my door lights. Nothing. I then began to check my cameras. The gang was still on stage and didn’t move. I decided I’d check that Pirate Cove place and saw that the curtain was open far enough that I saw a figure in there. Some sort of dog? I wasn’t sure as I switched off the cameras, I have to conserve power. I left them off for a solid minute before I checked them again. I saw that the curtain was all the way open in Pirate cove and that figure was standing just outside of it. I had a better view of it now… it appeared to be a fox.
I then quickly checked the main stage. Bonnie was gone, but Chica and Freddy were still there. I checked each camera and saw that Bonnie was once again on the main audience area, just like last night. I checked Pirate Cove again and saw that nothing was there. The curtain was wide open and the figure wasn’t there. I checked each camera close to Pirate Cove until I got to the West Hall. I saw that fox sprinting down the hallway. My body tensed up and I was filled with pure fear.
I smashed the door button quicker and harder than I did last night. I then heard banging on the door, as if someone wanted to get inside. After that, I heard footsteps moving away from it, as if it left. Just to be cautious, I checked the Pirate Cove cam and saw that the curtain was closed. I thought that meant that it returned, and I opened the door back up. I quickly checked the door lights on both sides and to my surprise, Bonnie was outside my left hand door. I hit the door button again, filled with fear, and waited for Bonnie to leave. The night went on in a very similar way. The fox ran down the hallway again and Bonnie came close to me a few more times. Fortunately, Chica and Freddy stayed on stage just like last night.
“Why don’t they leave the stage like Bonnie and the fox?” I wondered.
I left the place when my shift was over and saw Bonnie back up on stage. I didn’t want to even look in Pirate’s Cove since I’ve actually seen the bot in there move. I began thinking that it was strange the way these animatronics acted. I headed home and went to sleep.
–NIGHT #3–
This time I went to Freddy’s a bit earlier. Before my shift and after the other guard left. I didn’t really want to wait until the middle of the night to arrive, which somewhat frightened me. I also got there while the owner was still there. I said “hi” to him but he just gave me a low “hmm…” as if he were saying “hey” or “I really don’t feel like talking”.
I sat in the security office, playing games on my phone until its battery went out, which was conveniently at 11:57 PM.. I completely forgot to check the message machine for my nightly message. I don’t know how it was possible to tune out that constant beep of the dang thing. Maybe it was because of my headphones… that were barely even up. Anyway, I pressed play.
“Hello? H-hello? Wow, you made it to night 3! Great work! Most people don’t make it this far. I mean, they moved on to other things… I’m not implying that they died… yah. Didn’t mean that.”
I chuckled a bit when he said that.
“Now, I don’t really want to talk that much since Freddy’s and his pals become more active the further the week goes on. I should have told you that before but I, uh, forgot. Sorry! Make sure you check those cameras while I talk, just to be safe.”
I began to check the cameras. Nothing, everyone was in their proper spots.
“Also, here’s a tip I just came up with. If any of the animatronics see you and you can’t close the door in time, just play dead, like, go limp. They’ll probably think you’re an empty costume. Then again, if you were an empty costume they might try to put an endoskeleton into you. Don’t know how that would work… yah, scratch that. Just don’t get caught! Alright, well I’m done here. See you on the flip side!”
The message ended. I checked the cameras again, they were all out. West Hall, East Hall, Pirate Cove, every single camera was out. I was about to check on one of the cameras outside when I realized that they turned back on. I checked the main stage. Chica was gone. Not Bonnie, Chica. This kinda surprised me. Bonnie was the first one to always leave, why not now?
I began to check around. That’s when I found Chica in the audience area, staring directly at me from behind a table. The way she was facing, I also think she’s a she, wasn’t towards me, but her face was. This chilled my bones. Why were they staring DIRECTLY at the cameras? Do they know I’m watching them? No AI should be able to know that. The cameras went dark again, and I checked the door lights.
There was nothing there. When they came back on, Bonnie was gone. Thankfully, Freddy was still there. I checked Pirate Cove, the curtain was closed. I then found both Bonnie and Chica in the opposite halls. Chica was in the East Hall and Bonnie in the west. This filled me to the brim with fear. I was surrounded, and there was nothing I could do. I checked the door lights.
There was nothing on the left. I checked the right, and there was Chica, staring at me through the glass window. I was startled at first but then stared at it for a couple seconds. I saw it twitch, and I jumped for the door switch. That twitch was…bnot something an AI could do. Well, they could twitch if they were broken, but not human like, like Chica did. I checked the lights, Chica was still out there. I checked the right, and there was Bonnie! I was more startled by Bonnie because I swear I saw his mouth moving up and down almost like he was eating.
From outside. This caused me to immediately hit the door button. I was surrounded, more than I was when they were in the halls. I could do absolutely nothing but pray. I didn’t open the doors for the rest of the night. It caused me to lose all my power right before 6, but my praying paid off. Nothing came to get me. I didn’t leave that security office until the owner showed up because I was so scared.
He didn’t care and told me to leave because my shift was over. I went home and just watched movies. I couldn’t find the courage to fall asleep, knowing I’d have nightmares. I stayed awake straight until my next shift.
–NIGHT #4–
I got to the place at 11:50. A soon as I entered, I ran straight to the back of the building. I didn’t have the bravery to look at those animatronics in the eye. It sounded silly, but it was true. When I entered the office, it was very messy. There were some papers on the floor, the fan was flung across the room, and the camera screen had a small crack in it.
“Strange” I thought, as I pressed the play button on the message machine.
“Uh, hello? Wow, day 4, good job…”
The man sounded dull and “non-quirky” like he always is. I also heard a banging sound in the message. I was beginning to get little creeped out.
“Hey, um, I may not be around to send you any more messages… it’s been a bad night here.”
I was beginning to wonder what exactly was going on and started getting a small sense of anxiety rising in my stomach. “Hey, if you get the chance, can you check in one of those suits in the back? I might be–”
The sound of a familiar tune cut him off. It was the tune that Freddy always used to play as part of his act. Could Freddy be doing something with this man?
“Oh no…” he finished.
The message kept going as I heard the sound of the man and some other “thing” scream, along with a very loud “cracking” sound. I was terrified, shocked with fear, and could not move. What happened to him? Did he just… die? That explained the place being a mess but… how did this happen?
It sounded like something impossible. No computer programmed creation could act like this, even if it WAS malfunctioning. I sat for an hour, not looking at the cameras or door lights. I was too terrified to do anything. What snapped me out of my daze was the sound of heavy footsteps approaching me on the right. I didn’t even check the door lights, I didn’t look at the cameras, I ran out of the room to the right to face whatever the thing making the footsteps was. I was confident, angry, and scared at the same time.
As soon as I entered the East Hall, those feelings left me… except for fear. There, looking straight at me, were a pair of white eyes. I just looked at it until it began moving forward and started laughing. It sounded just like Freddy’s voice, so there was no doubt that what I was facing… was Freddy. I ran straight back to the security office. As soon as I entered, I began hearing footsteps coming full speed after me and the other door. I closed the door where Freddy was in time.
As soon as I was about to close the other door, I saw the fox. It was running straight for me, mouth open, and tears all over it, revealing its innards. I pressed the door button right before it entered, its nose being less than a foot away from me. I sat and let the power drain.
By 2 AM I was ay 72%. By 3 it was at 49%. At 4 AM, it was 28%, and at 5:30 it was 12%. I didn’t know if I could survive, and I began not to care. I was slipping away. One of my favorite childhood memories have been turned into a nightmare… I woke up to my boss shaking me.
He told me it was 7 AM and I needed to go home. There had been an accident. I asked what but he said I shouldn’t worry and I should go get some rest. He appeared to not care that I was “sleeping on the job” and just let me go without saying a word on the matter. As I was leaving… I smelled this very foul odor in the main stage area, and all the bots appeared to have red marks around their eyes.
I thought I was just imagining them because I do experience hallucinations from time to time…but a part of me was telling me that, those marks were real. When I stepped outside there were a lot of police cars out there. I saw some policemen talking to the owner and others writing down information.
I also saw that car from a couple nights ago when I arrived for my shift parked in the parking lot. It had caution tape around it, which caused me to believe it belonged to my “mentor”. When I got home, I did all my research on finding some info on the old security guard. After a good two hours of research, I came across the name “Todd Smith”. I believe it could possibly be the name of the man I’m looking for, but I’m not sure. I thought about asking my boss his name tomorrow, for now I just had to get some sleep.
–NIGHT #5–
I didn’t want to go to work at all. I was too terrified, but I had no choice. I needed the money, and it better be worth it. I arrived at the place, and my boss was waiting outside for me.
“Hello, sir,” I greeted.
“Shut your mouth,” he replied.
I was surprised. “Excuse me? Is there a problem?” I asked.
“Ya… there is,” he began moving towards me.
“That old security guard, the guy whose job you took, he’s dead,” he finished.
“You’re… you’re kidding, right?” I asked. I knew he was dead… I just didn’t want to believe it.
“No, I ain’t kidding. The funny thing is, you are the only person that could have been in here with him when it happened,” he said.
“What are you saying?” I questioned.
“Oh quit playing all innocent. You know that you killed him. I have no evidence other than you being with him at the time of the incident. I will find more evidence, and you will be locked up,” he finished.
“Sir, I can tell you that I have never even met the person, I did not commit this crime,” I replied.
“Then who did it? An intruder? There were no signs of forced entry. The animatronics? Impossible,” he didn’t wait for me to finish.
He stormed away to his car, and drove away. I entered and sprinted to the security office. I want to just get this night over with, and the only place I want to see those animatronics is on the cameras, not anywhere else. I entered the office and saw that I had a message.
I thought it was from my boss, so I pressed play. I was completely wrong. What I heard was a deep voice saying a bunch of gibberish, along with a couple screens. The voice sounded a bit like Freddy’s, and I’m sure it was.
With the way they’ve been acting, I’m not surprised they left this horrid message. I couldn’t even figure out what he was saying, which frightened me further. I immediately picked up the tablet and began checking on the stage and Pirate Cove. Those places are where those creatures originate, so my safest bet was to watch those places carefully. The camera then went dark.
I then began to hearing pots and pans shuffle around. This made me tense up, because I knew one of those things were making those noises. When the cameras came back on, I checked everywhere for the animatronics. Freddy was still on stage, thankfully, but Bonnie and Chica were gone. The curtain in Pirate Cove was also halfway open, but that wasn’t my main concern right now. I then tried to locate Bonnie and Chica.
I found Bonnie at Camera 3 and she was just… staring at me through the camera. Her face up close enough that I could see her endoskeleton eyes. I began to scan around for Chica, but I couldn’t find her. I checked the door lights. Chica was outside with her jaw wide open. I closed the door to avoid her getting in. As soon as I did that, I began hearing Freddy’s tune play.
I checked the cameras and saw Freddy in the audience area, and I could only see those white eyes. I checked the door lights and saw Chica was gone, so I opened the door. I checked the cameras again, Bonnie and Chica were now standing on opposite sides of Freddy.
I checked Pirate Cove, the curtain was wide open. I closed the door immediately, knowing soon the fox would be here. I then checked the cameras and saw laying next to Bonnie was that fox. Its eyes were wide open, but it was limp. The camera then went black, and Freddy’s tune then got slower and more, well, demonic sounding. The cameras came back on, and I saw that now, in front of the whole gang, was a limp Freddy Fazbear suit, with eyes poking out of the front of the mask, with streams of blood stained down the sockets.
The cameras went dark again, and the tune picked up speed gradually. I began hearing footsteps close in at every angle and I hit both the doors s**t as soon as I could. I then blacked out. I woke up to banging on the door. I checked the time. 5:55 AM. I checked the cameras and saw that each animatronic was in their respective spot.
I thought my boss showed up early and wanted to come in. So I opened the door. When I did, I saw that same Freddy Fazbear suit with the eyes poking out of the front. I was sure I could also see some teeth, but I didn’t look to close. The last thing I noticed was a bib on its chest. It was the same one as Chica’s only there was dry blood all over it. I ran away, I left the building and I drove away as fast as I could.
–2 DAYS LATER–
I received a letter in the mail with my check from Freddy’s and a “You’re fired!” note. I didn’t care. I wanted a different job now, I didn’t want to spend another day in that place. I contacted the authorities and told them about what I experienced in that place, but they told me I should get some rest… yeah, right. What happened in that “place for kids” was not right, there was something very wrong. I heard the place is scheduled to close down soon, but have a grand reopening next year. All I know is that whatever went on in there could not be achieved by an AI controlled suit. I now see that what I truly loved as a kid, was all a big, nightmarish lie