Chapter Text
Leafing through a newspaper was not how you planned to spend your Saturday morning. Especially since it was 8:00am and it was the first day of the weekend. And Saturday was your favourite day of the week, too.
'I don't care.' your mother shrugged, sitting you at the table and dropping a newspaper in front of you. 'Come on now, y/n. Please cooperate with me. You can't just sit in all day, and do nothing.'
'I do a lot!' you protested, feeling a little hurt. You washed the dishes, got your little sister ready for school, swept the floors, mopped them and hoovered. You made everyone's bed each day and where in charge of making the meals that everyone eats around here (Okay, maybe you ordered take out every so often. But so?)
Your mother sighed, and rested a hand on her forehead, her arms folded. 'Okay. That was unfair of me. Sorry, y/n. But you need to get a job, sweetheart. You see... I know I'm not here a lot because I work overtime. But that's going to be stopping soon.' your mother's voice caught in her throat, and you looked up. For the first time in a while, your busy and bossy mother looked like a scared little girl again.
'What?' you panicked, feeling your heart begin to thump. You hated it when she was like this. It was almost as bad as her being so strict.
Heavily, your mother took a seat opposite you. For a while she hid her face in her hands. Eventually she raised her head, lowered her hands and met your eyes. Sighing, she gave the news. 'I'm being made redundant, y/n. Of course, I'm getting paid for it, obviously I am. But we can't just strive on that money alone. I need to look for work. So for now,' she took your hands in hers. 'Only for a while... I need you to help. Financially.'
Sighing, you took your mother's hands back, and held them tightly. You thought about this. To be honest, you felt ever so annoyed. Was being the babysitter, maid and freaking cook not good enough for her? Then you felt a pang, and guilt crept up on you. You were not being fair.
Pulling away from her gently, you opened up the paper and flicked to the Jobwise page and scanned the list up and down. Nothing looked very appealing. Janitor was a reoccurring word. So was street cleaner. The bar tending ad caught your attention, but you knew your mother would not approve. And Not to mention it was rubbishly paid. You turned the page over, and the first thing that caught your eye was at the top left of the page.
Night Guard Needed
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is currently on the hunt for new night guards. One more space is open toward anyone who is curious. Not for the faint of heart, easily scarred and emotionally weak. Please ring the following number, or turn up at the following address and ask for Mike Schmidt.
'What about this, mum?' you quizzed her, pushing the paper towards her. She read over the ad, and bit her lip. Oh crap. She was wavering. If you didn't convince her, you'd end up picking up rubbish on the street. Or worse.
'Look, it's the best paying one so far. And not to mention it should be safe. I'll be indoors, and with whoever else works there. Plus, it's super close! Just down the street and round the corner! No main roads! Should we ring in?' you were desperately trying to worm your way around her. She looked up at you and tilted her head to one side.
'Night guard? Honey, are you sure about this?' your mother said doubtfully. She was about to turn the page over, when you decided to act fast.
'Yep! It's 12am till 6am, and then I could be home to do all the stuff around the house!'
'Y/n... we'll have to think about this, carefully okay? Night guard can be a dangerous job, and...'
But you somehow managed to convince her. Feeling a sense of triumph, your mother went to the house and dialled the number to ask about the job. Sitting at the table, you drummed your fingers on the desk, suddenly feeling pretty excited. I mean, how cool did night guard sound? Sure, it was at a kiddy's place, but nobody at school needed to know that. Straining your ears, you tried to hear what your mother was saying.
'Hello... yes hi, I'm enquiring about the night guard job... for my daughter, haha... can I speak to Mike Schmidt, please... oh, that's you. Yes... yes... no, haha... come down tonight... of course she can... you don't need any CV's or anything... oh yes, I see, short staffing is a problem - no, haha I don't blame you. Yes, it is a shame isn't it... what time does she need to get there for...? Yes... okay, thank you Mr Schmidt! Bye... bye!'
The sound of the phone being placed back down made you cock your head towards your mother eagerly. She turned around to face you, smiling a little. 'Yep. Just go along tonight, y/n. They're very short staffed see, and take anything they can get.'
'So I'm hired?' you said, slightly surprised but not about to complain. Can they even hire you just off the bat? Well, clearly they could.
'Yes. Mike - he seems nice - said to bring something warm, maybe a flask of something hot and to make sure your well rested.' your mother told you. Nodding you jumped up from the table and decided to go upstairs and relax in your bed for the rest of day - with the computer and the Netflix Channel, of course. Hopefully, this might also let you convince your mother you need a lot of rest.
Sauntering past your mother, you grabbed the family laptop and were about to bound upstairs, when your mother called out to you. 'Oh, and he said could you buy some AA+ batteries?'
* * * *
'Thank you, and have a nice evening.' the bored teenager said behind the counter, as he handed you your change and a pack of batteries. It was 11:30pm, and you'd stopped off at the convenience store on the way to your first shift of your new job. Grabbing the batteries, you headed for the door and stepped back outside into the fresh cold night.
Frosty air nipped at your cheeks and caught in the back of your throat. You huddled up inside of your coat and tugged the scarf further around your neck. Pocketing the batteries, you began to walk down the street.
It was eerily silent. A few cars drove carefully by every now and then creating a humming noise, but the street was still. Trees and hedges whispered and rustled every so often, as the wind gently blew between them.
It had been raining earlier that day, and the pavement was slightly damp and bit shiny, due to the full moon which was glowing bright in the sky reflecting off the floor. Stars were in small clusters in the night sky. Houses were lit up, still showing signs of life, whilst others where blackened and hidden away from the world. Peaceful was how to describe it.
Turning the corner, you saw the pizzeria looming just across the road. A shiver went down your spine and momentarily the peacefulness was corrupted. The building seemed to disrupt the night in a way you couldn't quite put your finger on. Empty and deserted, the car park seemed naked as street-lights flickered weakly, on the verge of going out.
The actual building itself was what you found disturbing; usually, it was lit up in the day, but now it was all off and seemingly made it's errors stick out more. Cracks where evident in the building along with moss crawling up it's side slowly. The mascots decorated the front of the building, but as you crossed the road they almost appeared to be glaring at you. Nails were hanging loose, and you were worried one day they would fall out and cause the signs to fall and crush somebody.
Without the light of the day, you thought it made the building look like something to be avoided.
Eventually, after a little convincing yourself, you actually went inside the entrance of the car-park and walked across it. Seemingly longer at night than in the day, you shivered a little and picked up the pace, afraid someone was behind you. Resisting the urge to turn around, you almost ran to the front doors. Panting slightly, you reached them, and were about to go charging in, when a figure blocked your path.
'Eeep!' you and the figure exclaimed both at once. You put your hands over your mouth and the other figure bent his head down and studied the ground. You removed your hands, and peered closer at this figure.
Which happened to be a boy. A little taller than you, you were level with his shoulders which were heaving up and down like a boat at sea. You couldn't see much, apart from the fact that he was of slim build and had brown hair, which appeared floppy and soft. It fell forward strand by strand whilst his head was bent. He was wearing an oversized cream jumper with black trousers and black shoes. Eventually, he caught his breath and lifted his head up.
This action nearly made you scream again, but you managed to swallow it back down. This was because the first thing that caught your eye was the fact that instead of eyes, he had a big black question mark on his face. You studied it for a long time, and your mind was running wild with questions about how it happened. But maybe he didn't want to discuss it. And how rude would you sound asking straight away?
He seemed a very shy and nervous boy, a couple years older than you. As if searching for safety, his hands went into his pockets and his arms locked, straight and stiff. His mouth, which appeared gentle and soft with caring lips, not too full and not too thin. Freckles dotted around his nose, as if each one was carefully placed.
'I'm so sorry,' he said quietly, and looking genuinely bad about what had happened. A pale pink shade spread out over his face, so he ducked his head again. 'I knew that you were coming... but it's quarter to twelve, and I was worried that you wouldn't make it on time. And, I scared you...'
Such a gentle voice, you immediately thought. And his personality seemed to match. Looking at him in a slight awe, and decided to try and make a newer better impression. He didn't really scare you - you'd scared yourself.
'I'm sorry for screaming,' you began carefully. 'And, I'm sorry if I'm late, but I got batteries. Mike said to. And you didn't scare me, I was scaring myself actually.' you laughed a little, tying to lighten the mood and a small smile twitched at the boy's lips.
'I'm Jeremy, anyway. Jeremy Fitzgerald,' he added. He tugged his hand out of his pocket, and held it towards you shyly. Wow. Shaking your hand. Such a gentleman, you had to admit.
Taking it, you shook his hand and smiled at him 'I'm Y/N L/N.' you told him. 'Nice to meet you!'
Releasing his hand, there was a moment of awkwardness. But you quickly decided to make small and talk and fill the space. 'So, you're a night guard, too?'
Jeremy nodded, and then held the door open for you, indicating for you to enter the building. You quietly thanked him, and you walked inside, locking the door after you. You took one look and froze in terror.
It looked absolutely petrifying. Compared to the busy day life, this place was empty and abandoned. Children's drawing's and posters adorned the walls, but they now looked... freaky, more than anything. Light leapt in through windows, and highlighted only some places of the pizzeria, but the rest was in complete darkness. Glancing around the room, you saw the stage. Three large figures were stood upon it, but you couldn't make out what was actually there. Probably for the best actually.
'Yeah,' he said softly. Reaching into his pocket, he swiftly pulled a torch out and clicked it on. Pointing it toward a hallway, he beckoned you to follow him. Doing so, you decided to keep your eyes on the back of Jeremy. If you saw anything else which freaked you, you'd be screwed for the night. 'Actually... Mike didn't say much about you. We didn't even know you were a girl!'
'Really?' you said, slightly distracted. 'Why not?'
'Well, first of all, Mike's never been that good at going into detail. But he's a good guy,' Jeremy said the last bit defensively. 'He's like a dad,' he added slightly nervously. 'You know, looking out for me and stuff. Fatherly things.'
'Must be comforting in a place like this,' you said to Jeremy and he laughed a little.
'It is, actually.'
As you turned the final corner, you saw a long corridor with a circle of light at the end of it, like some kind of fire. Jeremy seemed as relieved as you to see that light. 'And this is the office, y/n. Get ready to meet everyone,' he grinned as he led you down it.
Following him, you wondered who would be waiting for you in the office. You were very glad other people were with you, actually.
This place was not to be faced alone.