Five Nights At Sparky's - Chapter 1
The sounds of a kid playing around with the campsite. In his hands was a dull-looking orange airplane and he was imitating the sounds to go with it. He continues running around the area, initiating the same noise which annoyed his older brother.
"Did he have to come?" asked the older brother, who was clearly annoyed at what his little sibling was doing.
"He's your brother, Mike. Of course he's coming with us." the man replied, answering his son's question. Then, he turned towards his partner in crime in this burger scheme of his. She was busy with putting the condiments on the patty. "Now, how about some ketchup on that burger, hon?"
His wife gave him a short nod, before putting the finishing touches on Mike's burger. She places it right in front of Mike, who wastes no time digging in. Taking a huge bite into his already swamped patty, his teeth pressed into its inner lengths.
"Everything's better swimming in ketchup." she giggled, her smile brighter than the sun itself. Her husband however smirked at her clever wordplay. "Right, Mike?"
Before he could respond back, his mom accidentally spills the jug of cola. The liquid coming from the container pours rapidly on to the grass itself. "Whoops." his mom quickly picks it up before it could spill out anymore of that caramel essence.
"I'm gonna go grab a towel." she said, scattering for where she had last placed the paper towels. "Go watch your brother, okay?"
"Fine." Mike murmured under his breath, getting up from his spot to go look for his dumb brother. He begins scattering around the area, looking for where Garrett had gone, but it was like there was no sign of him.
Worried, he calls out his name. "Garrett!" then he hears the sound of rustling through the bushes and goes to check it out, hoping it might be his brother playing a game of hide and seek again. But before he could take a step towards the bush, he was suddenly hit in the head with a Frisbee.
"Sorry, dude!" yelled a kid, who was similar to Mike's age.
As anyone would do in that situation, Mike rubs the back of his head, turning to see where the Frisbee had gone. As he tries to pick it up, he hears the sound of a car engine being turned on from right in front of him. The engine roared to life, gaining the attention of the young Mike almost instantly. "Garrett?"
He sees it begin to take off right in front of him, his heart beat rising within each passing step he took. The car continues to go faster and faster, his eyes focus on the window which was now dawning his brother.
Garrett's face wasn't a look of horror, neither was it a look of joy by all regards, but nonetheless he wasn't supposed to be there. Instantly the younger version of the brother transitions into a blonde kid wearing a brown striped shirt. He continues the chase, picking up where the brother left off.
"GARRETT!!" he calls out, reaching out but to no avail couldn't reach him before the car disappeared out of sight. "GARRETT!!" At least not before tripping on a pebble, causing him to hit his head on to the wood pavement.
The weird sounds of the alarm clock continued to echoed throughout the kid's room. Cass opened his eyes, clearly bothered by the sound that rang in his ears. Putting his hands on to his face, hoping it might wake himself up, if only for a little bit. He turned around to see the bright red numbers of the clock say 9:00AM.
It continued to ring until he hit the snooze on the alarm, getting out of bed in a drowsy manner. Cass squeezed his neck back and forth until he heard the familiar cracking sound of his back, before hitting play on his tape recorder.A picture of a forest with the name Nebraska was hanged on the side of the ceiling.
Getting up and trying to wake up any last part of him that was still asleep, heading into his bathroom to get ready for the day. Cass looks at himself in the mirror, noticing his baggy eyelids and his less than ecstatic face staring back at him. He spits whatever toothpaste was in his mouth and roughly threw his toothbrush back to its spot.
Not long afterwards He makes his way down the stairs, immediately turning into the kitchen where the smells of french toast and bacon vacant the air. Cass begins to notice that everyone in his family was downstairs eating away like a buffet. His brother, Jeff took another piece of bacon before stuffing a new one down his face, while his sister Max stared at him in disgusted.
"Hey sleepy head, glad your awake." his mother asked, her contagious smiled almost infected him...almost. "Why don't you grab a plate and join us, sweetheart?"
"I'm not hungry." Cass responded, making his way towards the front door, grabbing his coat on the way.
"Honey, you need to eat." his mother complained. "You haven't eaten anything since yesterday and I'm getting worried."
He stood there in silence upon hearing that. She just didn't understand, he thought. She has not idea what it feel like to lose someone close like he did and at this point she may never will.
"Don't bother with him, mom." his brother blurted out. "He's still being a baby about his missing friend. You know why are you still so hung up about Gabriel....or whatever his name is, he's probably dead anyways, so who cares."
"It's Garrett..and he's not dead." whispered Cass, his blood was starting to boil just from being forced to hear that name again. If he was only a little bit older he would have fought against Jeff, but sadly he couldn't do anything else but take it.
"What was that, punk?" his brother glared at him, his eyes flashing with anger. "I SAID HE'S NOT DEAD!!" Cass barked towards Jeff.
"That's enough, Jeff!" Jeff paled, realizing he had gone too far. Cass turned to his mother, his eyes pleading for understanding. He lets go of his brother's collar as he returns back to the table. Sitting there in a silence, grumbling to whatever he was going to say underneath the bites of bacon wedged into his teeth.
"Please Cassie can you just eat?" His mom asks, pleading to him to eat anything, anything at all. Instead of responding, he backs away from his mother.
"I'm going to meet my friends at Freddy's." he says, slamming the front door in front of her face. "Don't wait for me.."
His mother stood there dumbfounded and in utter defeat of her attempt to get her son to open up to her.
"Well that went well." His sister, Max spoke up. Taking a long sip of orange juice she let kept warm, deciding not to pay attention to the face that everyone's eyes was now on her.
Taking a long, loud slurp of his cola from the massive paper cup sitting on the blue plastic table in front of him. He waves the paper-back book in front of him. "Though the dream may slumber," Jeremy, Cass's friend, Jeff paled, realizing he had gone too far. Cass turned to his mother, his eyes pleading for understanding. He lets go of his brother's collar as he returns back to the table. Sitting there in a silence, grumbling to whatever he was going to say underneath the bites of bacon wedged into his teeth.
"He strolls through memories as if encountering them for the first time, afresh." Jeremy was an okay guy. He didn't get on Cass's nerves the same way most of the kids his age did. Ever since his friend mysteriously disappeared, everyone always comes up to him feeling sorry and then carrying on like nothing ever happened. That in itself annoyed him to no end.
"No longer a passenger, but an active participant." His other friend, Gabes finished the sentence for him. Gabe or otherwise known by his real name Gabriel was another kid he made quick friends with overtime, him, Susie and Fritz were all an unstoppable force to be reckoned with before the incident.
"This stuff for real?" He asks, looking back at Cass with a confused expression. A smirk appearing across his face as he does so as he closes the book. Cass shrugged, staring off into the distance, wondering why they still even come to this place anymore. Freddy's wasn't anything to look at, despite being the oldest relic in Hurricane.
Jeremy begins to give a book another look before looking up at his friend one more time and asked, "Can I keep it?" He says, flipping through the pages like an archeologist in the making.
"No." Cass responds back, in annoyance. He reaches over and grabs the Dream Theory book that was in his friend's hands.
"You're still having those dream, huh?" Susie asks, petting her dog as nonchalantly as possible. Cass didn't need to say anything, it was written all over his face, he hasn't got an once of sleep in awhile. Those dreams almost felt...real, real enough to be considered getting looked at. The medication the doctors gave him helped...for a bit, but it didn't stop the dreams from coming back overtime.
"Hey, cheer up." His red-headed friend chimed in, putting his fake hook and his other hand on Cass's face to bring a fake smile. "We're going to have the best day ever at the mall today, I just know it." Always the optimist Fritz was.
But Cass wasn't having it, as quickly as he felt it touch his lips, he quickly slapped it away, already feeling annoyed just from coming here. "Did you even wash that thing?" Making a statement but at a further glance almost sounded like a joke. Everyone else around the table laughed it off except for him. "So I have the whole day planned out, we can stop at the arcade at 11 and then get a some lunch at the mall."
"Oh. Oh. Can we stop at Gamestop real quick?" Fritz said, interrupting the discussion.
"Can't we just do that here?" Susie asked. Already feeling tired just from hearing how complicated the plans were. I mean the arcade and the mall were basically in the opposite parts of town. There was no way they were going to do those things
"I guess, if you want to be boring." Cass added. "Besides what's the fun of this old place? The only thing that's keeping this place open is the food, otherwise why bother coming here?" Those were good points, but before Jeremy could find a reason to argue, someone approached their table. "Hello. Welcome to Freddy's."
The waitress, charismatic ally smiles at the group. Her blonde, wavy haired tied up into a ponytail and her hazel blue eyes survey the area. The employee badge stapled on to her shirt reads the name Vanny. While the children continue to stare at her, she begins to hand out menus to each one of them. "Could I set you kids up with some appetizers?"
"Yes." Cass's friend, Susie responds, grabbing one of the menus from off the waiter. she begins to look through all the delicious breakfast options this place has.
"No." But before she could make up her mind on an order, Cass stops her. "We're not eating." he says, responding rashly towards Vanny.
Susie let out a disappointed pout, begins to pet her dog, Carl while he wags his tail repeatedly to the touch of his owner.
"Well, that's no fun." she lets out a small chuckle, finding enjoyment from the kid's response. "You do realize that lunch is the most important meal of the day?"
"I agree." he blurted out. "But that doesn't change the fact that Freddy's food is trash."
Vanny's smile falters slightly as she looks at Cass. "This whole place is." the last part was only heard as whispered, but Vanny could still pick it up. A muscle began to twitch at the corner of her eye and the right side of her jaw bulged briefly.
That should show her to mind her own business. Cass thought.
But just as quickly as it faltered, her smile rose above again. Her eyes becoming more brighter than ever which pierced Cass's negative attitude. "Well, if you're looking for someplace fun..." she trails off, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Vanny leans in closer to table, gaining the attention of everyone there."I have just the place in mind..."
"Thanks but we're fin-." Cass barked, getting slightly irritated with her presence. Hopefully interrupting whatever she was going to say next in the hopes of getting back on track with the conversation at hand.
But before he could finish, Susie covered his mouth wanting Vanny to continue just like all the others. "Where is this place, exactly?" Jeremy asked, his interest only peaked just from hearing the name that came out of her mouth next.
"Let's see..." The waitress puts her finger on to her chin, thinking of what the place was called again in her head. "On the tip of my tongue, I believe the name was..."