More Mike Bullying

Mike trembled, knees pulled up to his chest while he sat on a toilet. He was stuck in the bathroom hiding in one of the stalls. His heart pounded as he tried to catch his breath.

Although he couldn’t read his watch in the darkness of the bathroom, the guard knew that it was after five. If only he hadn’t disregarded the message on the phone at the beginning of his shift. Even with the warning the animatronics had taken him by surprise, and he had panicked so much that the doors had been kept shut nearly the entire night.

Then the power ran out.

The bear, Freddy, had appeared then. Haunting melody playing, eyes flickering, his presence had frozen Mike in place. The moment all went quiet, though, an idea sprung to mind and he was suddenly moving. The dark office had been a flurry of activity and struggling. Even now, Mike wasn’t sure how he had gotten away.

The soft thumping of heavy feet, a sound that was now very familiar to him, froze the guard in place. The footsteps entered the bathroom and paused. Mike could only imagine what the bear was doing. He peered through a crack in the stall door, desperately trying to get a look at Freddy. He failed, unable to see the animatronic.

It was time to panic again when the security guard heard the first stall being opened. As Freddy got closer to his own stall, his mind raced. What would he do? How could he get away from the machine hunting him?

His instincts had saved him already, so Mike trusted them once again. Freddy had just checked the stall immediately next to him, and in the scant few seconds that were available to him the guard crawled into the next stall. He moved quickly, as quickly as he could without making any noise.

Freddy paused before opening the stall door he had been in, and flung it open harder than he had the others. The animatronic stood in front of the empty stall for a few moments and then moved on. The guard held his breath.

When the bear was finished checking the stalls it trudged back out of the room. Mike could just barely make out the brown feet as they brought to animatronic past the stall he was in.

Fear stopped the guard’s heart when Freddy stopped in front of his stall. It held an icy grip on him as the bear stood there. Aching lungs cried for relief and spots were appearing in the guard’s vision. Seconds dragged on and on until Mike was sure Freddy would be standing there. He jolted at the sound of a hand grabbing the door of the stall.

Then Freddy seemed to change his mind, and with only a few more steps he was out of the room. Mike silently gasped for breath. He waited longer before moving, partially to make sure Freddy wasn’t coming back and partially to regain his composure.

Mike could hear Freddy in the other bathroom opening stalls, and the sound of it firmed his resolve. He had to get out. Although he didn’t know the exact time, Mike knew that there wasn’t enough of it to last in the restaurant. If he didn’t escape soon, he was done for. There was only one problem, though.

The front door of the restaurant was on the other hall.

Mike tip-toed out of the bathroom stall and to the door. After cracking it open he peeked down the hall. Any hopes of taking a shortcut through the office were dashed. He could just barely make out the sounds of someone, or something, rustling around in the security office. His fears were confirmed when a shape, indistinguishable in the darkness of the restaurant, poked it’s head out. Mike could just barely see white pinpricks of light moving around as the figure swept its vision up and down the hall.

Once the head had gone back into the security office Mike leapt from the bathroom and scurried up the hall. Freddy was still in the other bathroom and something was rustling around in the kitchen, so Mike didn’t dare to enter either. Instead, he walked into the dining room. The place was empty, and Mike took his time avoiding the tables and any party hats lying on the floor as he walked across it.

Once Mike had reached the other hall he peered around the corner into it. It looked safe, so he forged ahead. Mike shivered and wrapped his arms around himself in a tight hug. It felt like the posters were watching him, their eyes following his movement. Not only that, but the shadows seemed like they were closing in on him, creeping ever closer and promising to strangle him with their hold.

So preoccupied with his paranoia was he, Mike almost missed the subtle sounds of whirring ahead of him. He immediately pressed himself into a nearby alcove. In front of him was an animatronic he didn’t even recognize, covered in torn faux fur the color of dried blood. Luckily, it’s back was to him, otherwise that moment of inaction would have spelt Mike’s doom.

Mike squinted into the darkness, trying to determine just what this new animatronic was doing. He wasn’t entirely sure, but it looked like it was just staring down the hall at the security office, twitching. Every so often a spark would fly, creating a flickering red glow in the hall for a moment before fading.

The red animatronic seized up and went still. Then, it swiveled it’s head around one hundred and eighty degrees. Mike ducked back and bit back a curse. All was quiet, and as the guard counted the seconds a small flicker of hope began to grow in his chest that the machine hadn’t noticed him.

That hope was dashed mercilessly when the scraping and clanking of metal feet on tile started moving towards him. Mike pressed himself as flat against the wall as he could and waited. The footsteps were drawing even closer, getting louder and louder.

Mike forgot how to breathe when the animatronic passed by his alcove. Only a foot away, he could clearly make the animatronic out. It was an anthropomorphic fox, dressed in a pirate’s clothes. Its legs were stripped bare, exposing cold metal, and a cruel hook gleamed on one hand.

The sight of the fox marching backwards with its head spun around would have been funny in any other situation. Circumstances as they were, however, left Mike feeling thoroughly unamused. The guard hurried down the hall once the fox was far enough away. He ducked his head when he reached the security office, but it was empty now.

The front entrance was in sight now, only steps away, and Mike broke out into a sprint to reach it. It was so close, freedom was at hand!

It was then that Mike’s luck ran out.

An incredibly large hand wrapped around Mike’s shoulders. Fingers dug into his skin, so deeply that he cried out in pain.

“Looks like someone’s playing hide and seek!”

Mike cried out again at the incredibly loud voice. His ears rang while he was spun around. Facing him was the rabbit, Bonnie. It’s grip tightened on him, and Mike felt something snap. The pain stole his breath from him, and he tried to yank his arm out of the machine’s grip. No matter how hard he yanked, however, Bonnie’s hand remained firmly in place.

“Alright kids, it’s time to go home,” Bonnie said, voicebox crackling with static. Behind it Mike could see Freddy approaching down the hall. He struggled harder. Not now, not when he had been so close!

Bonnie was dragging him now. The two met Freddy further down the hall, and the bear grabbed Mike’s other arm and began to drag him as well. Mike stumbled as he was forced to follow them, screaming and crying all along the way.

Chica was waiting for them backstage. The chicken already had the head of a Freddy costume ready. Mike was thrown onto the table roughly and held down. Snot bubbled from his nose. The head approached his own until his vision was swallowed by darkness.

The chime sounded for six o’clock. The animatronics froze, and Mike froze along with them. Metal bars were pressed painfully against his face, so hard that he was sure there would be bruises. Chica pulled the head away, and Mike could see that she was fighting even that much. The other two were fighting as well, shaking with effort as they jerkily let him go.

Mike bolted upright and winced at the sensation of something broken near his shoulder. The three animatronics were staring at him, and Mike didn’t dare stare back and he hopped off the table and ran out of the room.

He had just reached the security office and collected his things when Freddy’s voice rang through the restaurant. “I hope you come back soon, kids”

Mike left and didn’t look back.