HB

It was August 14th. It was one of "those" days.

Year after year, without fail, the animatronics all had special nights where they would act funny. Nobody was sure why, they just did. Their behavior was always subdued, lethargic. If they moved at all. For Freddy, it was August 8th. He would play his accursed jingle for the entire six hours, on a loop. For Bonnie, it was March 2nd. He would take his helmet off, and sit in the corner of the parts sand service room. Foxy stayed behind his curtain on the 23rd of July, while Chica went to the kitchen and baked herself a vanilla cake on November 10th.

These quirks had become legend, passed around from employee to employee. All five days were marked on the calenders, along with their corresponding animatronic. All except one.

August 14th.

Without fail, it would spring some surprise each year, different from the other years prior. In '96, it was a sudden power outage at 2 am, followed by the booth's doors slamming shut and only opening at 6 am. Way back in '82, the guard's desk was moved into the kitchen. And in 2004, the security tablet was locked inside of the filing cabinets. Weird things happened. Maybe it's the Devil, the more religious employees mused. Yet the mischief that occurred wasn't always harmful. It was almost a coin toss. Without a clear logic and intelligence behind these wrongdoings and miracles. Nobody was exactly sure how long these traditions were in place, these deeds had  ingrained themselves as a part of the site's history.

 When Chuck entered his office, he was understandably filled with trepidation. August 14th was a wildcard. He had survived two weeks on his shift. He had gotten used to Freddy and friends.

Which is why he didn't expect to find his office doors already closed. Chuck ran to the west door to get it open, but the button wouldn't respond. Panicking, he checked his tablet. There was no notification that the doors were taking up power. He watched the meter for a bit, as he flicked through and saw all four animatronics in their expected spots. It remained at 100% for the next five minutes.

Chuck leaned back in his chair, and relaxed. Guess he got lucky. It took only a few minutes for him to realize that there was no air conditioning. And no fan, either. It was gone from his desk. Chuck was sweating bullets now. And the door behind him was locked.

The heat soon became unbearable. Chuck felt a burning sensation on his face, and wiped away some skin. Underneath it was a gaping red patch of flesh. The rest of him was fine, Chuck noticed. It was his head that was hot like hell. He ran his hands through the top of his head, and they came up with patchy red clumps of brown hairs. He saw that his desk was melting now.

Chuck's head burst into flames like a birthday candle.

Before him stood a golden thing. It was humanoid. Chuck couldn't tell much beyond that, as his brow was drooping over his eyes now. It moved towards him, and wind blew the flame out.

Fwooosh.

Happy Birthday.