A Soul on the Fritz

  My head hurts. First thing that comes to mind as I wake up is this throbbing headache. I think it might be a migraine, as it's so all-encompassing that it feels like everything's swollen from the neck up. These are the worst. Tentatively, I slowly open my eyes, expecting the incoming light to sear them. Instead I am met with darkness. More of my senses return to me, and I realize that rather than my bed, I'm lying on cold, wet, tile. Immediately my training kicks in, and I give myself a once-over. Fully dressed, body checks out, no broken bones, and there's a bit of a stinging sensation on my face and hands. And the headache of course. Of strange note is that where it stings, it's also wet. So on reflex, I dry my hands and face with my shirt and pants. The feeling then shortly goes away. Whatever the liquid on the floor was, it burns a little. Given it's a tile floor, I'm guessing a bleach of some sort. Just where the Hell am I?

  First, I check my pockets. A keyring with some keys on it, and a wallet. Nothing I can use there, though I did feel something attached to a belt loop on my pants. From the shape, it felt like a pocket flashlight, so I immediately attempt to turn it on. The miniaturized light clicks on with no problem. Good. Holding it up, I get a good look around to get my bearings. As I do so, images flash in my head. A rundown office. Desolate hallways. Static in the air. Children's scribbles posted on the walls. Poor power and security management. I remember now. This is Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and I was sent here to do... what? The details are hazy, but if someone like me was sent, then it must have been important. I shine the flashlight on myself and check what I'm wearing. "A security uniform, are you fucking kidding me?" I say aloud in disbelief. That couldn't possibly be right.

  I seemed to be in the dining area, where the show stage was. With that worked out, I attempted to remember what I was really doing here. But the only things I can remember were checking the cameras, and keeping an eye on the, on the, oh God. Realization hits as I recall the very real danger I was in, those animatronic terrors. Frantically, I shine the dim light around the room to look for a light switch. I soon find one and move to click it on. My hand freezes when I notice something about the walls. Something I hadn't noticed it until I got up close, as it was subtle. But there was no mistaking it now. The walls were pulsating. Gulping, I reached for the switch again. "Please don't." something suddenly said, right behind me. Startled, I jumped to the side, accidentally losing my grip on the pocket light as I went. "Who's there?!" I shouted as I fumbled for the pocket light. Even over here, that bleach was on the floor, stinging my hand as I picked up the light. Looking up with it, I soon forget the pain in my hand as I try to understand what I was now staring at. "Now I know you're feeling the urge to, everyone does, but, if I could ask you not to scream, you'd be doing me a solid." it asked.

  While I managed not to do that at least, I instead backed away from it, keeping one of the dining tables between us. From here, I got a better look at the thing. It sort of looks like a silhouette of the one of the animatronics, particularly of Freddy. Another image flashed in my head, this was something I spied on the cameras while on my mission. Whatever that was at least. The entity did not move, but it did thank me for not screaming. It was really hard to make it out in the dim light just what exactly this Shadow Freddy was. The only things I could clearly see were its white eyes and, its teeth. Strangely enough, its teeth seemed to be in the shape of a mouth, almost like a cartoon. It also seemed to be wearing... a bath robe? This was much too bizarre. I needed to make sense of the situation, before one of the murderbots showed up. "Oh, you don't have to worry about the animatronics. None of them can be here." the shade said, at what I assumed was another attempt to placate me. I contested that, saying the pizzeria was the only place they COULD be, since their programming wouldn't let them leave. "You can't trick me." I said finally. Then more of my memories returned to me. I was here to exorcise a demon. "Not that I'm trying to do so in the first place, but, if you say so." the creature replied, its unnerving grin widening. I gulped and asked it to turn the light on if it's being so friendly. It told me that it would really rather not, so I asked it why.

  "I went to a liquor store last night, that's why." it explained.
  "And? That doesn't ma-" my head twinged as I found myself starting to get irritated by the entity.
  "I drank it." it told me plainly. Wait. Was it trying to tell me it had a hangover? Really?
  "Turn the fucking light on. My head hurts too, and you don't see me whining about it." I stated angrily.
  "Except that you just did. But if you insist." said the creature, before flicking the light on.

  My eyes watered as they adjusted to the increased lighting conditions. Shutting off the flashlight, I reattached it to my belt loop. In the light, Shadow Freddy was still mostly a darkened shape, in stark contrast with the light. I could make out a slight purple hue to it though. And sure enough, it was wearing a bath robe. It was even monogrammed. What could S.G. mean? This was beyond absurd. "You probably have some questions. I don't mind answering them." it said, before chuckling and stating that at least here, it could be as honest as it wanted. A nice change of pace it called it.

  "Look Shadow Freddy, I'm not here to fuck around with you I-" I began, before the shade cut me off.
  "You're here to exorcise the demon possessing a puppet in an attempt at cleaning the pizzeria up." it said, smugly.
  "How could you possibly know that?" I asked. There must have been a leak somewhere. A mole, perhaps?
  "I have my methods. Not that it matters, since your plan wouldn't have worked anyways. Lynette's not a demon."
  "Who? You're not making any sense, Shadow Freddy." that wasn't a name I heard in my briefing.
  "The puppet. And quit calling me that. I'm not Freddy." it replied.
  "My intelligence told me the puppet was called Marion." I ignored Shadow Freddy's request as I responded.
  "Right. I meant the one using its face. She's nothing more than a poor girl who wants vengeance, not some demon wreaking havoc."
  "So you're saying it's a spirit, not a demon." I replied. If it's telling the truth, my superiors aren't going to like that.
  "Yeah. But I don't blame you for not knowing, I did make it look pretty convincing that she was demonic." What was this now?
  "...You're protecting her. Question is, Why?" I asked. Again, assuming honesty, what reason would such an entity be doing such.
  "Making things even is all. I'm kinda sorta the reason she's the way she is in the first place."
  "I don't see why her killer would-" I began but the creature cut me off again.
  "Oh, I didn't kill her. I just accidentally created her killer." it explained. What have I stumbled onto?
  "That just adds more questions. Want to explain yourself?" I asked. This was a lot of intel, if true.
  "No, not really. Would take too long, and I've other stuff to do than that." it said before falling silent. Great.

  While I tried to plan my next move, I decided I had to keep Shadow Freddy talking. So I asked about the bath robe. It told me of how last time I saw it, it was naked, so it figured it'd be better this way. I explained that it just made the situation even more bizarre than it already was. But it seemed okay with that. Then it went on about bath robes, materials used, thread count, things like that. Tuning it out, I glanced around the room. Far as I could see, I couldn't see my pack anywhere. I must have left in the security room before I was knocked out. Which meant I'd have to go there and check it out. It was a start at least. I then held up my hand to politely interrupt the creature.

  "Look, you seem friendly enough, answering my questions and all, but Shadow Freddy, I have to-" it cut me off again.
  "I said quit that. I'm not Freddy."
  "Why do you look like him then?" I asked. It was a valid question.
  "I don't. The suit I put on does." Wait a minute. Does he mean...?
  "That doesn't explain why you look like that at all. Explain further." I hurriedly asked, trying not to seem too eager.
  "Okay, look. What you're looking at? This isn't a form, so much as just a shape. And shapes without form are malleable. I've been doing this for so long, that this part of me just sorta naturally took on the shape of my suit. As for the colour, well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all. So I guess I'm just expressing that for someone." it explained with a smile.

  If everything it's told me really is true though, then this means that this creature is the entity possessing the empty suit I read in the reports. But those reports made it sound like it was just some benign spirit, not some malevolent thing. Regardless, my superiors will definitely be looking into this, that's for sure. The toothy grin on the creature soon went away, as it seemed preoccupied with something. I was about to make a break for it when the thing audibly groaned, saying something about being back in a bit. Then, with a small pop, it vanished. I waited at first, to see if it was a trick, but it didn't seem to be. So I made a break for it. Now that I was left to my own devices, I immediately headed for the security room. I figured my pack had to still be there. The sound of light splashing could be heard during my run. It seemed that that bleach was all over the floors. I'd have to be careful of slipping. I expected to see my pack as I got there. But as I approached the office, what I did not expect to see, was four random guards (at least, I assume such due to them wearing my uniform) sitting around the security desk playing cards.

  While I drew closer in confusion, one of them looked up and noticed me. Calling me new guy, he shouted a greeting and beckoned me over. Glad to see regular people again I hurried forward and asked what they were doing playing cards when they were in grave danger. They exchanged concerned looks amongst each other, and then one of them unfolded a chair. "You'd better sit down for this." Taking a seat, I waited for them to start talking. While waiting, I looked around and noticed that my pack wasn't here either. Great. The one who initially called me over, a man wearing a neck brace, then spoke first. "Name's Avery, new guy." he began, then he jerked his thumb to his right, at a guy stuffing his face with chips with one hand, while holding his cards in the other. "This is Nick. He may be a fat shit-" "Hey!" "-but he's a good guy." he finished, leaving Nick to just grumble his approval while munching away. "On your right is Ollie. He's alright, just don't let him near your food, he gets hair into everything." at those words, Nick jokingly moved the chip bowl closer to himself. Ollie didn't say anything, seemingly content with just scratching his chest and nodding. So I nodded back. That just left the guy I was sat next to. The guy attempted to introduce himself but his voice was strained. He popped a lozenge and lapsed into silence, prompting Avery to continue. "That's Nathan. He doesn't talk much, on account of always having a sore throat. Guy's pipes are fragile as shit." he explained, to which Nathan shrugged. After introducing everyone, Avery's face then took on a more a serious look. "Alright look, I dunno how to tell you this, but... you're dead."

  Who did they expect to fool with that kind of tripe? I'm not an idiot. My migraine worsened, putting me not in the mood for this kind of crap. They weren't at all surprised by the look of disbelief on my face either. I guess they've tried this bullshit before. "Yeah, I didn't expect you to believe us. Reminds me of Yanni. That guy was short more than just a finger, to be so in denial like that." Avery said, before adjusting his neck brace. Wait, who? I asked him who he was talking about. They then told me how there used to be more of them, with Nick rattling off names while Ollie would mention something about each one. There was Mickey (a pale young guy who looked as though he was recently fished from a pool), Oliver (a claustrophobic performer), Ulrich (a guy who used to love foxes before becoming terrified of them), and Samuel (an eye patch wearing guy). Just like the four of them, the guys who used to be here also worked for the pizzeria. Then Avery asked me what year I thought it was. That's easy, it's 1987. So I told him such. He laughed and showed me his security ID, the date of which was in the future, the early 90s. Nick and Ollie's IDs matched Avery's, but Nathan's bore the same date as mine. Mentioning that fake IDs don't help sell their story just got more laughter, and I was told that I'd have gotten along great with Yanni. At this point I was fed up with their shit, and told them I was getting the hell out of here. I continued, saying that they're free to stay here and get killed by the murderbots if they wanted. As I said the word murderbot, they got real quiet. Then Ollie (who was still scratching his chest) spoke up. "Actually, we think that's how we got here. All of us remember seeing one before waking up here." he said, before Nick next added a "Not Nathan. He got nabbed by a puppet. What a wuss." which caused them to laugh while Nathan let out a strained but indignant "Hey!". Their words this time actually hit home with me. I could at least remember seeing BB before I woke up here. Shaking my head, I told them I didn't care, I just wanted to get out of here. I refused to believe their story. I'm not some dumb mook, I couldn't possibly have been killed by some tin cans, whether a spirit/demon was involved or not. With that all said, I got up from my chair and left the room.

  For a moment I found it odd that none of them tried to stop me, but I put it behind me as I walked down the hall. Only the light splashing sounds permeated around me. It was strange that sound didn't seem to carry well, especially since when turning back, I could still those bozos. Hell, they had already gone back to playing cards. None of them had mentioned Shadow Freddy at any point so I guess that creature really doesn't mean any harm. Or the entity was in my head the whole time. It has been killing me after all. Jesus. Turning a corner, I made my way for the exit. I ended up passing by some Employee of the Month posters as I reached the door. They caught my attention because none of them were framed. Can't say I'm surprised, given how cheap the managers of this place were. As I looked at the posters, I noticed that the wall they were affixed to was also pulsating. The four hadn't said anything about pulsating walls either, so I guess that's also in my head. My head did feel like it was pulsating too at least. Almost automatically, I began reading the posters. Avery, Nick, Ollie, Nathan, Yanni, Mickey, Oliver, Ulrich, Samuel... the guards here and the people they mentioned that used to be here. Those guys must have put their own posters up for that. Not that I'd blame them for it, with the shit this place could put you through. Upon opening the exit door, a large wind burst in, knocking me on my ass with a splash. The wind dislodged the posters, scattering them around me. But more pages of paper fell around me than just the nine posters. Plucking one off the floor, I gave it a once over. It was a police report detailing Avery's body being found. All these other pages were reports on the fatal findings of the others as well, though some had more details than others.

  I'll admit it, I'm a little bit spooked now. Quickly, I got back on my feet and booked it for the exit. An exit of which, seemed farther away that it should have, given I only fell over. Pushing the thoughts to the back of mind as just stress caused by my headache, I stopped short at the doorway in shock. I couldn't see anything out there. It was all pitch black. Unhooking the penlight from my belt loop, I clicked it on. Still nothing. Tentatively, I went to take a step, only to find nothing solid to press down on. The building seemed to be suspended in a dark void. A chill went up my spine as I began feeling a sensation I did not need right now. A sensation to jump. To take my chances with the unknown, instead of risking it with the murderbots that I know must be lurking somewhere in the pizzeria. While trying to make up my mind, I heard a small popping noise. A very familiar popping noise. "IT'S ME!" Shadow Freddy said from right behind me, making my decision for me. In that moment, I leaped into the abyss.

  Falling. At least, I think I am. I don't have any point of reference. No wind rushing past my face, and nothing I could see. Looking up, I can't see the pizzeria either. It's as though I was simply suspended in a black pitch. Trying to move gets me nowhere, resulting in what feels like flailing around uselessly. I have to think of something. Suddenly, I'm bathed in a blinding light, and I hear a taunting voice that makes my skin crawl. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Alone in the dark. Shouldn't have jumped the gun there, champ." it says mocking me. The light dims a bit, and I make out a very large toothy grin. One I've seen before. I began shouting all sorts of pleas, of help, of mercy. To let me live. But the creature just seemed to ignore me. "You probably would have given me indigestion anyways, so it's okay that you ended up out here instead. Where you can stay." Shadow Freddy said happily. My head pounded further, and my skin began to itch. The smile widened, and the creature told me not to worry, for it has eyes on me at all times. Then Shadow Freddy began to laugh. From an itch to a burn, my skin flares up, and gashes start forming all over. Then the wounds open up into holes, yet no blood pours out. I scream in pain as I try to make sense of the holes that have opened. I can feel them all over my arms, legs, hands, and feet. Gaping holes where flesh should be. Despite the light, none of it goes into the openings, adding more fear to my pain. The teeth that formed Shadow Freddy's mouth begin disappearing, with the light slowly going out with them. I cry out and beg for my life, and find myself staring in horror at the holes, amidst my pain. And right before I'm plunged back into darkness, I make eye contact.