- T R A C Y -

At 11:45 that night, I walk into the pizzeria with sunglasses covering my still red eyes. A janitor is just leaving, giving me a odd glance. I walk past without looking at any of the animatronics, plopping down on the chair with a groan. Pulling my sunglasses and hat off my head as the phone beeps with a message. I ignore it as my feet push the wheeled chair in a slow circle.

I don't do anything until twelve, when I reach over and press play for the message. The guy starts right away, his voice not any different. "Uh, hello-hello? Um, well if you're hearing this, you made it to day two. Uh... congrats!"

'Doesn't get out much, I bet. This guy...' I turn on the tablet, it already on the stage.

"I-I'm not going to talk as much tonight, since Freddy and his friends get more active as the week progresses. Uh, i-it might be a good idea to take a peek at those cameras as I talk. J-Just to make sure everyone's in their proper place... y'know?"

"Oh, yeah, I know." I sass, taking a peek at the clock. Only five minutes, and still... this guy will talk me to sleep tomorrow night, I bet. I look back to the screen to see Bonnie is looking at the camera. If he had eyebrows, I'd bet ten bucks one would be raised.

"... interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't go offstage often. I heard he's more active in the dark, so... that's one more reason not to run out of power, right?" I mock his weak laugh, my top lip curling slightly. "I-I also would like to emphasize the importance of your door lights." I look left and right as said buttons labeled DOOR. "There are blind spots in your camera views, and they so happen to be right outside your doors. So, i-if you can't find someone, or something, on your cameras, check with the lights and shut the doors if needed. Um, you might only have a few seconds to react... u-uh, n-not th-that you would b-be in a-any danger, of course. I-I'm not implying that."

"Yes, you are." I sigh, sinking lower as I follow Bonnie into the dining area, watching him lean against a chair, looking down at the floor. "This place is the death εστιατόριο."

"A-Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time? The character in there seems... unique, in that he becomes more active as the cameras stay off for long periods of time. I-I guess he doesn't like being watched. I dunno..."

I groan a little, tilting my neck to the side to pop the bones there. When I had woken up, my entire body was sore, like I had taken a beating.

"A-Anyway, I'm sure you got everything under control. Uh, talk to you soon!"

And then he hung up.

"And so begins," I sigh, sitting up in the seat. "another night at Freddy Fazbear's." A little over five hours of hell left to endure.

Four hours and forty-three minutes later, the left door is shut as Bonnie stares at me through the window. Chica is standing like a... well, like a chicken, in the girl's bathroom. I had pushed my long hair back into a ponytail so I wouldn't be constantly pushing it out of my face, and a few baby strands were sticking to my forehead from sweat. I stare at Foxy, who's leaning out from behind the curtain, his one yellow eye glowing in the darkness. As I watch, the eyepatch flips up, revealing the other eye.

Metal footsteps cause me to look up and check the window using the light. Bonnie still stares at me with ruby red eyes, his mouth hanging open. I look away, unease making my stomach churn. Checking the other doorway, I see nothing that puts me in danger. Unless you count trash and dirty floors.

A child's laugh causes me to turn the chair to the back wall of the office. My eyes widen as they find the source of the laughter, and my heart starts to beat faster. A yellow Freddy Fazbear suit is slumped against the wall, mouth hanging wide open as empty sockets stare at me. My chest heaves as I try to find my voice, my hands clutching the tablet. But I blink, and the suit's gone.

I look at the clock on the tablet screen: five-fifty. I jump up and run out the right door, leaving everything in the office behind as I sprint down the hall. I barely dodge Chica as she turns into the hall, stopping as I run by. I wince as my hip bashes against a table and chairs, pain shooting up my side. Foxy steps off his stage as I run through the front doors and out onto the street.

I don't stop until I'm in a neighborhood two blocks away. I stumble to a stop, placing my hands on my knees and taking deep breaths. On habit, my fingers find the pulse in my neck, racing at about 5 beats every three seconds. Five minutes pass before I move again, straightening up and walking down the street to get a better look at the street sign. Sighing when I realize I was only on the block next to mine, I continue along the sidewalk until the familiar black wrought iron fence slid into view.

I push open the gate, letting it swing shut behind me as I walk inside the house and up to my room. I hear soft music from David's room down the hall, and an audiobook playing in Will's. I shut my door quietly, even though all three of them are heavy sleepers, and set my bag down on the floor. Plopping down in my desk chair, I stare out the window into the backyard below, my brain recapping the entire night. It wasn't, hectic, but- ugh, it was weird.

Pushing my chair back, I pull open a drawer and grab the sketch book and mechanical pencil inside. Shutting the drawer as I scoot forward, I open the sketch book to a blank page, noting how there were only seven more left, after the one I'm on. After drawing a simple circle, lines marking the nose and eyes orientation, I stare outside for a minute before an idea comes to mind. Shaping the head to be a bit more animalistic, I begin to draw. My mind starts to tunnel on the paper, shutting out the silent house and neighborhood around me.

By the time Rob's hand fell onto my shoulder, I had drawn dozens of different versions of the four animatronics, and my hand was starting to cramp. Squeezing my eyes shut after what felt like hours of not blinking, I finally set the pencil down. Groaning as Rob chuckles a little, his hand sliding off my shoulder. "Have you been up since you came home?" I nod slowly, resting my cheek in one hand as the other pulls my glasses off the bridge of my nose. He doesn't say anything else, just pats me on the back and leaves the room. I rise from the chair, not bothering to fold my glasses before crawling under my bedsheets and falling asleep.

I sleep the rest of the day, waking up at 11:25. Pushing myself up, I stumble over to my dresser and grab a black bandana with yellow smiley faces on them. I look down at the clothes I had slept in, then just shrug. "One more day." I say to myself, bending over to tie the bandana around my head to somewhat cover my unbrushed hair. I pull on a pair of blue crocs I owned and tromped downstairs, intending to just leave the house.

But I jump when I walk into the kitchen and see Rob asleep at the table, a stack of mail next to him. I sigh, walking over and pushing the mail to the other side of the table. I go to the front room to grab a few blankets, and go back to the kitchen to pull Rob off the chair and onto the floor, tucking one blanket under his head and spreading the other two over his body. I sit cross-legged, my fingers lightly playing with a few strands of Rob's chocolate brown hair. My mind wanders until I take a look at my watch and see it's ten minutes from midnight.

I jump up from the floor, giving Rob a peck on the head before grabbing the keys from their hook and opening up the garage. I slide into the old white Honda Odyssey, turning the key a couple times before the engine starts. "Oh, you're getting old, boy." I sigh, pulling out onto the street. It takes me five minutes to get to the restaurant, pulling into the closest parking spot possible without breaking the rules. I turn off the headlights, cut the engine, and lock the doors before running inside, straight to the office.

Landing on the edge of the chair, I manage to hit 'Play' on the phone before I slip and land on the tile, crying out in pain.

"Hello-hello? Hey, you're doing great!"