Chapter Text
The music was loud, only cut through by the chorus of children's voices mixed in with the ocassional adult's. The change was incredibly daunting and jarring. What was far more jarring was how despite it being obvious she was in a child-oriented, pizza-based restaurant, [Y/N] was most definitely not in the one she drove to today. The space was smaller, and it felt even smaller because of the amount of people inside. It looked to be popular.
Before she could think about it for any longer, she closed the door. "Employee's only" it said. She didn't even know where the hell she was, so yeah, she definitely was not an employee. The woman looked all around her, half-expecting to see a security guard sternly staring her down with a look of "you shouldn't have done that" that could kill. But nobody in sight that could be a guard.
She turned her attention back to the ruckus all around her. Probably the most interesting thing that screamed out at her was the massive bear animatronic entertaining a table of three children, his movements and way of speech all too human. A man wearing yellow springlock suit, but whether or not it was the same one she found walking around in Afron's office, she did not know.
That was Fredbear, but Spring Bonnie... She looked around. He was nowhere to be seen, not even up on the stage.
There were two holes in Fredbear's mask where the eyes would be, allowing for the human actor inside to fully see. At least there was that, right? If you have to walk around in something so constricting, you should at least be given the common descency to see enough to not trip and possibly suffocate a child in the process.
The dining/party room was filled entirely by families. No bored adults hanging out to gawk at the creepy robots, just screaming children very happy to be there and parents with varying degrees of tolerance to be there. [Y/N] tried to sit as close as she could to the wall to avoid any and all attention, but ironically enough, that was the very thing that got some eyes travelling to her in judgement or confusion. At first she thought it was just because she was a single adult in a sea of families. Then she looked at their clothes, then to her own. They seemed to be wearing summer-ready clothes, while she was dressed for the chilling fall that was already in full swing. That was... Odd of them, right? Her instinct was to think everyone else was strange, but between her and the dozen of other people all dressed the same way, which one looked like the crazy one?
As Fredbear's large stature moved out of her line of view, her eyes caught glimpse of a poster.
"Grab a slice!"
With Fredbear toothily grinning at the camera with a plate of pizza in hand, drawn in a vintage style like the one from the calendar she saw in the office.
"Celebrate!"
Spring Bonnie holding a bundle of balloons with happy children surrounding him.
"Your friends forever!"
Both halves of the pair together, cutting cake for a birthday boy.
"Join us at Fredbear's Family Diner!"
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the posters. It was like a time capsule that she dug up without even knowing, perfectly perserved, not unlike a corpse embalmed in formaldehyde. Fredbear's had a long and successful run, but the horrible accident that caused it to shut down soiled its name irreparably. If it was relaunched, that would be all over the internet, and as someone chronically online she would've definitely heard of it. And yet, she didn't. And yet, everything she was seeing, it was all there.
Panic rose in her chest as she realized just how wrong everything around her was. She couldn't stay. She needed to leave. The second she saw the exit door, she started walking towards it with hasty, large steps, as if everything would instantly become clear to her the second she'd pass that threshold. She wasn't able to make it far before someone stopped her. They placed a large hand firmly on her shoulder.
《¤》Turn to page 30.