Something Came Alive - A FNaF Inspired Short Story
It took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust to the new scenery I found myself in. The room was filled to the brim with arcade machines, toys, and other attractions. While this must have been a place many would've considered their childhood, I never got to visit one as a kid. And yet... Something about this room felt incredibly nostalgic to me.
It's exactly what I pictured an arcade to look like based on the movies I've watched and the stories I've been told. As if I was being led on a trail, my eyes went from one arcade machine to the other, trying to identify any details I could. I couldn't quite recognize any of them until I noticed the side of one of the cabinets. It had the art of a cartoon character I used to adore when I was growing up.
As I walked towards the machine, my excitement went through the roof. I don't usually get that excited about anything, but this had a grip on my mind. I had to play the game. However, when I finally inserted a coin, nothing happened. I tried everything I could think of, putting in more coins, rustling the machine back and forth, and I was still met with a blank screen.
I was as devastated as a little kid being told it can't go on one of the rides in the amusement park. Just as I was starting to tear up, I realized how silly I was acting. I'm a grown woman now, why am I crying over this crappy arcade game not working? As soon as that thought came, it quickly got replaced with another.
The only exit out of this room was a comically grand and whimsical door, like the entrance to a palace. Once I pushed it open, I was disappointed, to say the least. A huge door like that felt like it would promise as equally huge of a room on the other side. In contrast to the overstuffed arcade, this room was completely empty.
I suppose it was meant to be some sort of main lobby, judging by the fact the only thing it contained was a bunch of doors with labels on them. I tried reading them, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was gibberish to me. I picked a door at random and went inside.
Wires, metal, and various tools — it seemed to be some sort of storage room. What really caught my attention was all the robotic parts laying around. They all looked like they came from different robots, but I could see the consistency in their design. I picked up everything I could find and started trying to assemble them, like putting together a puzzle, with the difference that there were five different sets mixed together.
I must have zoned out while building it because it was ready before I even knew it. In a way, my creation was rather creepy-looking. No face besides its lower jaw, crooked bunny ears, one singular arm, an endoskeleton leg with every part of it being a different color. However, I felt more sympathetic towards it than scared.
The scrap it was made with was very worn down, and it looked at least 20 years old. Just as I was getting ready to move onto something else, I heard a faint hum coming from my robot. The hum then turned to whirring. Painful whirring and clanging. I watched as the mismatched machine tried sitting up straight on the table.
It was like an animal trying to pilot a human body. Jittering, shaking, and making nonsensical movements. The sight was too much for me to just gawk at and do nothing about, so I helped it stand up. I was taken aback by just how tall it was; like a child staring down an adult, as tall as a tower. For a long moment, it observed me, tilting its head left and right.
The ticking that came from inside the machine as it watched was dreadful. I wanted to run, but my body was frozen solid. I had no clue what it would do once it gathered enough data.
"Input your name," the bot spoke to me. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Everything that had happened made no sense. Wouldn’t this thing need some sort of power source to move, let alone talk to me?
"Input your name," it repeated. I imagined a far more friendly voice from what seemed to be an entertainer, but it was monotone and robotic. Only a hint of humanity could be heard through it.
"Julie. My name is Julie." Once I replied, there was a couple of seconds of relief... Until it quickly came crashing down with fear. Two red lights beamed through the robot's darkened face, or rather lack thereof. I was like a deer in headlights; I was stunned. I didn’t know what to make out of the situation.
"I remember. How could I not?" As it talked to me, I could hear its voice becoming more lively. Like it gained some sort of consciousness. Was it confusing me for someone else? This was the first time I’ve ever been in the presence of an animatronic, and I’ve certainly never been in this place before. “Where am I even? How did I end up here?” I thought to myself.
"You did this to me. And you get to live without a single worry. Nobody knows. But I always will." With every word it spoke, it took another step towards me. I couldn’t let this go on any further. I took a run for it, pushing onwards to any door or hallway I could find. Every new room I entered was stranger than the last, but I couldn’t linger on it for too long. I could hear the machine speeding up, every step sounding more powerful than the last. This maze of a building seemed endless, and I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up. My head was getting dizzy; I felt like I would throw up at any second.
After what felt like forever, I hit a dead end. I couldn’t quite tell where I was, but my best guess would be an office. There was one large desk with an assortment of monitors, plush toys, and stacks upon stacks of papers. What may have been my saving grace, however, was a row of empty mascot suits sitting limp behind the desk. If I hid in one of them, maybe it wouldn’t find me. I picked the bear mascot, who sat on the far left. I tried my best to hide as deep inside of it as I possibly could.
It’s inside. I held my breath and put my hands on my eyes. I’m not particularly a religious person, but at that moment, I had found an excuse to pray for the first time in my life. I begged God to make this thing go away.
One by one, I could hear it snatching the costumes, throwing them across the room once it identified whether I was there or not. As its glowing red eyes focused on the bear suit, I knew what was coming.
It reached inside and grabbed me by the neck. I tried to loosen its grip, but it was far too powerful. After some struggling, it finally pulled me out.
"I will do what you did to me all those years ago. You’ll find out how it feels to slowly get the life drained out of you while you hopelessly fight for survival. You can’t ignore me forever, Julie." Before it could finish, the dim light in the room went out. First there was silence, then there was relief, and finally — panic.
As I laid in bed, my entire body was paralyzed from what I had just experienced. This was the most vivid nightmare I’ve had in a long time. Usually, I forget them shortly after waking up, but this one really stuck with me. It's been 10 years since the incident; why is my brain reminding me of it now? I thought I had moved on; I thought I had put the past behind me. Before long, I tried to forget about it and calmed myself down. It wasn’t something worth being hung up over.
My clothes were drenched with sweat, so I decided to get up and change. I drank some water and got ready to go back to sleep. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I could hear someone walking outside my room. As it got closer, I could feel my entire room shake. I pinched myself, but this wasn’t another dream. Someone or something was approaching my room. After a prolonged sense of anticipation, a subtle creak signaled the gradual opening of my door. Emerging from the shadowy void, a pair of crimson lights cast a glow upon me.
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