Something spooky for Halloween

Mike's heart pounded in his chest. It was almost 6AM, and the animatronics were gunning for him like they never had before. His power had gotten so low that he was forced to keep both doors open while they stood at the windows, only closing them if the animatronics made a move to get closer. Staring at them through the glass with the doors open was doing things to his sanity, Mike just knew it.

Mike sprang up to close both doors when Bonnie and Chica both approached down their respective halls. He could see both of them. Watching, waiting. He tried to maintain eye contact, tried to pretend to be fearless with the hopes that if he could trick them then he could trick himself as well.

Of course, Mike didn't even attempt to hold back the relieved sigh that escaped him when the two animatronics left. His eyes cut down to the tablet. One percent at 5:58. Mike moved to open the doors. Even a few more seconds of electricity could mean the difference between life and death.

The power went out.

Mike sat back down in his chair and held his breath. He struggled not to move at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching his office. Don't move, and Freddy will take his time. It was a lesson that had saved his life once already, and hopefully it would save it again.

Freddy began to play his song, and Mike struggled not to flinch. The notes seemed to drag on and on, Mike praying with every fiber of his being that they would never end. Unfortunately, they did. Freddy's flickering eyes went dark, and all was silent. Then, Freddy began to move.

Mike felt more than heard the animatronic enter the office. The presence of an unseen figure in the all-obscuring darkness, whispers of movement in the air, a prickling sensation that something was watching him. The cloying smell of dust and stale pizza, so sickeningly overpowering the closer the bear got that Mike felt bile rise up in the back of his throat.

Everything was silent once again. Mike dared not to move. The seconds stretched on and on. Mike felt something brush against his arm.

With the joyous cries of children, the lights flickered back to life. Mike jolted in his chair. Freddy was looming over him, hand outstretched, eyes unfocused as though they were staring through him. Mike slowly slid out of his seat, wary of making any sudden moves as though it would trigger an assault. Freddy's head swiveled to follow him, even twisting around to face behind him when Mike edged past the animatronic to leave the room.

Right as the guard stepped out of the security office, Freddy's eyes finally focused on him. Mike flinched and walked as fast as he could out of the building.

The first rays of dawn were peeking over the horizon when Mike left the restaurant. It was quiet that morning, without many people or vehicles out. The walk to his apartment was far, so far that many mornings Mike almost couldn't make it back. Had he had the money for a car, a scooter, or even a bike, Mike would've spent it in a heartbeat if it meant not having to commute on foot. Then again, if Mike had the money for luxuries such as that he wouldn't be working at Freddy Fazbear's to begin with.

A loud bang echoed out of an alley right after Mike passed it, the sound of metal striking metal. He flinched, almost tripping over his feet in his surprise. Mike stood frozen in place, feet rooted to the ground. Possibilities raced through his mind, each one more horrifying than the last. Just as he took a shaky step back towards the alley, a shape emerged from it.

Mike deflated. Just a cat.

The cat licked itself for a moment and then trotted away. Mike shook his head. The job at Freddy's was getting to him. If his paranoia didn't go away then he'd probably have to quit his job regardless of how much he needed the money. It just wasn't worth it for his mental health.

The walk home took another hour, and the whole way there Mike was plagued with the feeling that he was being watched. His neck was sore from the amount of time he looked over his shoulder. Once he even thought he saw a brown blur, human in shape but too large to be one, duck behind a dumpster, but a hasty investigation revealed that he was just seeing things.

Mike unlocked his front door and immediately started stripping off his uniform. The jacket was flung over the back of a sofa he had picked up from a landfill and scrubbed. His shoes were kicked off. Mike didn't particularly care where they landed. The pants laid crumpled on the floor where Mike had stepped out of them.

Mike opened the fridge and got some cheap beer out before slamming the door shut harder than was probably necessary. He chugged down the whole can before he could taste anything and grimaced as he threw it away. Mike plodded towards his bedroom door and yawned, idly scratching at his armpit.

The sound of something falling in his kitchen had Mike jumping out of his skin. Suddenly not tired at all, he raced back into the kitchen. The fridge door was open, and the rest of his beer had fallen out. Mike scoffed and closed the refrigerator door. Damn the money, he'd be handing in his resignation at the pizzeria the moment he woke up. It wasn't worth all of this jumping at shadows.

Dreams of putting the day behind him, and hopefully his workplace as well, filled Mike's head while he went back to his bedroom. It was small and messy, but it was his. Mike rubbed at his eyes with one hand, using the other to close the door behind him. He frowned when it didn't close all the way. He looked back, expecting the door to have gotten stuck on something.

A large brown hand was holding the door open.

Mike leapt back and shouted. The bedroom door was pushed back open. Freddy walked in, stooping low to fit through the doorway. Mike scrambled back, tripping over some empty boxes of frozen food and falling back onto his bed. He struggled to put more space between himself and the animatronic, moving backwards until his back was to the wall. The entire time, Freddy stalked forward, slowly, methodically, as though he was savoring Mike's every reaction.

Mike's eyes went wide. A strangled whine escaped from his throat while Freddy's massive hand approached his face.

The police came a week later after the landlord reported that a tenant was refusing to let him in to collect rent and had barred the door. When the officers busted through the door they searched the apartment for it's missing resident. It didn't take them long to find him. The corpse of one Michael Schmidt, mangled almost beyond recognition, had been stuffed into his refrigerator.