>It was night 1 at Freddy’s renovated pizzeria, and the cleanup crew had since left.
>You are Steve, as you’d been come to be known as, and you’ve been left alone at your desk to twiddle your thumbs and watch the halls.
>Steve wasn’t your actual name, but it kind of stuck when another coworker, Mike, told you that you had to sound like you belonged here, and your old name didn’t cut it.
>A sip of the now warm soda from your desk, and you’re lounging in your chair staring into the abyss and what lurks behind it, down the metal corridors of your work station.
 
“It’ll be fine!” they said.
“No one’s going to want to break into some ol’ pizza parlor!” they said.
“Worse you’ve got to worry about are the tokers.” They laughed amongst themselves, as they left you to your own lonely devices.
 
>You’d be more inclined to listen if it weren’t for your common sense, and the news you’ve heard having kept up with the company’s history.
>It made you wonder if you were the only one that ever listened during the introductory video for the position.
 
>Probably.
 
>It was near 3 AM, and the blinking light on your tablet continued it’s dreary schedule, remaining uninteresting as per usual.
>All the cams were looking clear, and out of boredom you may have actually glanced at a couple, but mostly you just browsed the internet.
>It was actually rather blissful; checking random articles, laughing at random pictures, and even playing a game or two on the company device, considering you couldn’t afford one yourself.
 
>It was really relaxing.
 
>or it would have been.
 
>The clatter of metal sounds off, and you jump in your seat.
>your immediate reaction is to look at the halls, but alas nothing was there.
>The sound of clattering metal sounded again, this time jerking your attention to the vents next to you.
 
“ki--*fzzt* pl… *kkkkkkhhhhht* …ere”
 
>You could have sworn you were hearing a voice emanating from the hole, and you’d have been inclined to do your job and check it, but right about now you were close to shitting your pants.
>So, sitting duck like you are, you remain in place, staring intensely at the vent grating with bloodshot eyes.
 
“Wh.. *static* whe.. … own.. pl—“
 
>The echo of the metal tunnels made the dialogue a garbled mess of incoherent fragmented words.
>and then…
>it was quiet.
>Absolute.
>silence.
 
>10 seconds
 
 
>30 seconds..
 
 
>A minute goes by and not another sound is heard, as your workplace goes dead silent again.
>You shift in your seat and check the cams, but don’t see anything out of the ordinary
>The halls seem clear, and the sounds refuse to confirm whether what you heard was someone there or just your mind playing tricks on you.
>Clicking the tablet, off you get out of your seat and furrow your brow in anger.
 
‘Man, there is nothing to be afraid of’ your thoughts encourage you
 
“Yeah. You’re right!”
 
‘Just check the vent. It’s probably some mice or some shit.’
 
“Pfft. I know right?”
 
‘It’s not like the stories are true. They’re just animatronics with programming.’
 
“Exactly!”
 
>Your conversation with your innermost thoughts are spoken aloud, if only to break the silence from driving you up a wall, as you approach the cold metal cover of the ventilation shafts.
 
‘If anything it was probably a prank by the Phone Guy everyone keeps talking about.’
 
“Yeah, what a di-“
 
>your head lowers to the grating without opening it, but a familiar saying pops into your mind at that very moment as you looked past it.
 
‘And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back’
 
>Staring right back at you with its cold lifeless eyes was not a toker.
>It was not a child.
>and it certainly wasn’t a mouse.
>It was more of a metallic beast, with a form that you couldn’t quite comprehend, maw slowly opening from behind the metal barrier before letting loose a furious screech-
 
‘HEY THERE, HON. TIME TO GET GOING. YOU’RE LATE FOR THE SHOW!’
 
>You flew on your back, the creature slamming its head against the grate, leaving a huge dent in it
>Mind racing quickly, you figure it has about two hits left before it flies off!
>You’ve got to find something somewhere bef-
 
*CLANG* *CLATTER*
 
>FFFFFFFFFffffffffff—
 
‘BAIL, YOU IDIOT, BAIL.’
 
>You spring to your feet and book it down the halls.
>The slamming of metal on tile behind you only serves to get the adrenaline flowing faster and faster.
>Before you can think, you break into the room that comes into view, finding yourself in the Playground Area.
>Spotting a ball pit, you dive so gracefully inside that Michael Phelps would be proud, and wait, pressing your face against the mesh walls to watch the door.
>but only darkness and the heavy thuds of the beast careening down the halls to find you, fade into the distance.
>Given a moment to breathe, you try and piece together what just happened, and remember something a coworker told you on break one day:
 
‘Listen, esse.’ Your thoughts surface, ‘I’m not saying they’re going to, cabron, but if the fucking mascots try to fuck with you? Put
on the mask.’
 
‘What if I don’t have the mask..?’
 
‘Fuck if I know. They used to have doors here, and that’s what kept ME safe, but for you? Hell your job just got a lot harder.’ He paused, ‘but usually around 6 AM, they shut off and return to their stations. Probably to charge or some shit like that.’
 
>he put his arm on your shoulder and gave you a stern look
 
‘I’m serious, meng. Be careful with these fuckers. Management won’t listen, or they’ll straight up look the other way if you bring this up.’
 
>and he was gone.
>you didn’t take him seriously, but that’s clearly come to bite you in the ass.
*beep beep*
>You check your wrist and look at your watch.
>It’s 5 AM.
>Guess you’ve got an extra hour in the ball pit.
>You wish you could just dash this con job of a place and never look back, but you need the money.
>So you wait.
>and wait.
>and wait.
...