A Fire Without Sparks - 1
Michael Afton x Fem!Reader
Synopsis: The newly opened Fazbear Fright attraction is shrouded in mystery, leading edgy teens and curious adults alike to the old pizzeria. But of course, the slack rules and dangerous wiring led to a boy being rushed to the hospital. Just intensive care, nothing serious! The franchise owners decided it was time to make their horror attraction somewhat legal! Hiring a random electrician from the next town over, a whirlwind of mystery, malice, and murder is thrown onto the poor worker. Will her and the sketchy purplish nightguard make it through the night? Or will they be caught in the fire of the past?
Warnings: Post-Scoop Michael, assuming Michael is the FNAF 3 guard, ooc Michael, non-canon elements used sparingly, canon game violence
Proof Read: Yes
Word Count: 3.4k
Masterlist: here!
The small tin mailbox made a soft click as it was latched.
"Junk.." She mumbled, sifting through the various colorful ads and overdue rent notices as she trekked back towards her ground floor apartment. The misty morning coated her feather-light sweater, sending a shiver down her spine. Gently opening the rusted knob, she kicked her now mudded boots to the side, throwing the useless ads and reminders onto the coffee table.
She slumped down onto the couch, staring vacantly ahead of her at the blank TV. "Still needs fixing.." The woman exhaled, wishing she had the right parts to fix it. Anything to distract her from the impending doom she felt. Before she could fall even further down the rabbit hole that was her mind, she heard the familiar rattle of the loose doorknob. It was swung open rather roughly, revealing a younger boy, a backpack half hazardly swung over his right shoulder.
"Hey Kris" She waved at the boy, straightening her formally slumped posture. He nodded toward her, throwing his backpack next to the coffee table before throwing himself down onto the couch next to her, almost missing the thin cushions completely.
"Sooo.." She dragged, leaning over to pat his shoulder. "How was school? Any tests or projects I forgot about?" She cringed slightly at her own words, realizing just how out of her brothers life she had become as of late. He simply sighed, opting to just shake his head. Kris's eyes slowly shut, his mind and soul pulled into a different reality, one she could only wish was better than this one.
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"An electrician..?" The man grumbled into the ratty old phone, his slight accent echoing in the abandoned looking office.
"Yeah! We figured if we want to make our attraction more.. offical! We need a better lighting system. Sure, the live wires and old light fixtures make for a pretty spooky feel, but we can't afford another lawsuit." The chipper sounding man explained, causing the man on the other end to sigh. He really didn't want to deal with someone he knew would want to quit, before even entering the building.
"Will I need to interact with them? Give them the grand tour?" He said dryly, his sarcasm clearly going over the other mans head. "You sure will! All that corporate crap included." He chuckled a bit at the end, to which the British man rolled his eyes.
"Fine then, when is this new employee arriving?"
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"Call!" Kris shouted from his room, his sister promptly placing her book on the coffee table, before making her way over to the kitchen. Stashed away in a small corner, their rather outdated landline resided, a testament to their lack of expendable funds.
"Hello?" She started, waiting for the person to introduce themselves. "Hello there! I'm calling local electricians in the area on behalf of Fazbear Entertainment. We are currently looking for a well rounded, experienced, and hard working electrician to take on the task of fixing up our newest attraction, Fazbear Fright!" The woman deadpanned for a moment, the corporate jabber shocking her
"Jeez, this guy is.. painfully professional"
"Um alright.. if I were to say I was interested-"
"Wonderful! We pay one hundred dollars and fifty cents a week for your hard work, presuming you make it to Friday!" The man chuckled, she scowled slightly at the phone. "You'll be required to fix the generator before starting any of your other tasks, next you'll need to dispose of any electrical wiring that has fallen out of place, fix any live wires in the building, and replace our current 1950's model light's with newer 1970's model's! From your paycheck.. But anywho! Thank's for being apart of the Fazbear team, we are so glad to have you on board." The man rambled on with more obligatory nonsense, mentioning the actual address for the job once between his ramblings, before the call ended with a loud *thud* on the other line.
The soft beeping of the phone was all that was left, continously ringing before she slowly took it away from her ear, gently placing it back where it belonged.
She genuinely didn't know what had just happened, in shock at the word salad that was just thrown at her
"Who was it?" Her brother questioned, walking down the short hallway. "I.. don't know? Some guy from Fazzy entertainment or something. All I care about is they offered me a job." She explained, waving her brother off. She grabbed a small notebook from the drawer under the outdated microwave, wanting to jot down the important details spewed at her before she forgot.
"Fazzy..?" Kris mumbled, the name feeling slightly familiar to his tongue. "I think you mean Fazbear" He corrected, moving to the freezer to grab a popsicle, the last one.
"Right, Fazbear" she mumbled, jotting that down too for good measure. "I vaguely remember hearing rumors about it when I was younger, something about a crazy dude in a rabbit suit?"
"So a furry?" Kris asked, his lip slowly turning into a smirk, taking a bite of the frozen treat. She rolled her eyes at him, waving him off for a second time. "I'm sure you have homework you should be working on."
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The faint screeching of tires echoed through the empty building, the emergency exit door slightly cracked open, allowing fresh air to enter the stuffy and rotten air of the old pizzeria. The man tasked with introducing the electrician to Fazbear Fright lifted himself from the uncomfortable office chair, his bones cracking and bending in ways they shouldn't. He poked his head outside of the doorless office, spotting the rather beat up Honda that had just parked, the license plate hanging on by a thread
"Looks like a Freddys hire to me"
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"...this should be it" The woman spoke, glancing down at the tiny notebook, rechecking the address. The sign was barely visible, shrouded behind veils of thick ivy. The whole building was covered in all sorts of foliage, the large cement parking lot making it look odd as it surrounded it on all sides.
"Must have been a popular place.." She pondered, moving to the trunk of the car. It took a good amount of force to get the thing open, as the handle was practically none existent. Once she successfully popped the trunk, she was met with all sorts of tools and supplies. Her tool bag, full of hand me down wrenches and hammers from her father, the light models she had been requested to purchase, and a few extra cables and other wiring.
" I'll be compensated for this.. hopefully." Although she wasn't very hopeful.
She grabbed her toolbox, deciding to just come back for materials once she knew what state the buildings electricity was truly in. She hadn't even noticed she had parked directly infront of the emergency exit door, which just so happened to be proped open.
She couldn't see any other entrances that didn't look like they were bolted shut from the inside.
"Guess thats my way in."
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Upon entering, her nose was immediately attacked with the pungent oder of rot and decay.
The walls were caked in decades old stains and grime, mechanical parts meticulously scattered across the tiled floor. The torso and head of what looked to be an old bear animatronic startled her a bit, she had forgotten what this place used to be for a moment.
"Electrician?" A mans voice echoed through the hall, startling the poor woman for a second time. She whipped her head around, clutching her tool box a little too tightly, her knuckles suffering the consequences. Her eyes met two silver ones.
"Silver..?" Last time she had checked, that wasn't a common eye color.
He wore a rather pristine white mask, which was truly out of place in a building like this. He stood there, just staring at her.
She shook her head lightly, coming back to her senses. "Yes, yes I'm the electrician." She held out her hand for the man to shake, which he obliged.
"Goodness, he's freezing!"
"Security guard" He responded plainly, pointing a rather.. gray looking finger at his golden name tag.
She nodded, an awkward silence falling between the two for a moment.
"Well, I was instructed to give you a tour of the attraction." He started, beginning to walk further down the hallway, waiting for her to follow at the end.
She quickly caught up, matching his pace as he led her through the horror themed maze.
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As the guard, who she soon learned was named Michael walked her through the building, she noticed just how bad of a shape the place was in. Not just the faulty wiring, but the floors were practically disintegrating everytime she took a step, the ceiling above her sagging so low it might crumble from a single rain drop. "How is this legal?" She came to the conclusion that it most likely wasn't, and that's probably why they were so desperate for someone to atleast fix the wiring.
"And lastly the bathroom, only the men's has plumbing that.. sometimes works. So you'll have to use that one." She could tell that the bathrooms hadn't been cleaned in atleast a decade. "Yeah I'll pass on getting some incurable disease."
Michael sighed, failing to ignore the womans concered and rather disgusted face. "So, if you still want this hell of a bloody job, start with whatever that overly excited man told you to do." He said, bouncing off of the entrance to the bathroom he had been leaning on. He made long strides through the hallways, making his way back to what she assumed was his office. She had spotted the long, foggy window as he showed her around, and just assumed that was the security office.
"Wait!" She raised her voice slightly, her voice echoing back onto her eardrums. She'd have to get used to that.
He turned slightly, his neck twisted back to look at her, almost unnaturally.
"I was told to fix the generator first? Do you know where that is?" Michael nodded, motioning her to follow with a wave of his finger.
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"Finally.." She sighed, rolling her shoulders back and twisted her neck, a small popping sound emitting from both. Her hands were covered in dust and mire, her shirt dirtied aswell.
She flipped the red switch on the generator, the lights around the building slightly flickering before burning at their very potential. Footsteps began to approach her from the left side, Michael strode down the hallway rather sluggishly, his hands nestled deep within his pockets.
"Nice job." He stated, nodding towards the now working generator.
"Thanks! It'll probably need regular maintenance, I was able to replace a few wires but the battery still drains incrediblely fast on this thing. I wasn't told to completely replace it so it'll have to do." He simply nodded in response, his almost glowing eyes boring into the side of her head. She fiddled with the wrench in her hand, staring at it like it was the most beautiful and priceless wrench in the world.
"Well," Michael started, jiggling the keys in his left pocket. "you can go home for the night, I'll let you know how the generator worked tommorow morning." She simply nodded, realizing he wasn't much of a talker.
"Alright, seeya tomorrow." She bid him adieu, to which he simply lifted a hand as he walked away.
She waited until he disappeared behind the wall, before turning back towards the generator. Gathering her tools, bits of wire, and tape, she placed everything back in her toolbox. Her attention was quickly drawn to a quiet... groaning? Maybe a slow thud? She honed in on the two distinct sounds, trying to pinpoint their locations, but she couldn't. The noise came to a sudden hault, causing the woman to shrug it off.
"Probably just my imagination."
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The cold night air felt refreshing on her tared skin, making her feel alive again. Something about that place just reeked of death, like the very building was slowly sucking her life force. It is a horror attraction, so the feeling wasn't misplaced.
She left the exit door cracked a bit, assuming Michael wanted to keep the small flow of fresh air in the building. She struggled with the trunk, threw her tools inside, hopped in the driver's seat, and drove to the next town over, back to her home.
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Crossing the threshold, she was finally hit with a smell other than must and mold. Her brothers cheap body spray, her even cheaper perfume, and the smell of the oven pre-heating. She was grateful Kris had remembered to pre-heat it before she got home.
She placed her toolbox next to the door, and kicked her sneakers off to the side.
"I'm home!" She called out, to which she heard a disgruntled hum from her brothers closed door."Must be napping" She glanced up at the tiny clock that hung above the sink, 8:00 PM. Home earlier than expected!
Looking back down at her filthy clothes, she realized she couldn't start cooking dinner in this state.
"Kris!"" She called again, the dark hallway sending a shiver down her spine
odd..
"I'm going to shower really quick and then start dinner, alright?" She didn't wait for a response, briskly walking past his room where soft snores drifted through the wooden door.
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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Ugh... hmph." The woman groaned, sluggishly leaning over to stop the annoying racket. The clock almost crashing onto the floor in the process.
She turned to lay on her back, the ceiling fan motionless, probably covered in layers of dust. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she swung her legs over the edge of the twin sized bed, her feet hitting the cold hard-wood floors.
She peeked into her brothers room, which was quite the mess. Books scattered everywhere, empty cups and plates surrounded his small desk, his unmade bed stood a testament to the rush he was in earlier that morning.
She shifted her feet towards the singular bathroom, gently pushing the door open and flipping the light switch.
After a quick shower, brush of her teeth, and change of clothes, she made her way out the door.
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Last night
The generator was working.. a bit better than before. Less flickers and outages, but it did nothing to fix the ventilation. The guard leaned back in his chair, still staring at the small screen.
Which was keeping him alive.. in a way... His imagination kept playing tricks on him. He'd see a shadow of a Freddy, the arm of Foxy, and occasionally heard a slight banging from deeper within the old building. He chalked it up to a remnent side effect, or maybe a side effect of being a rotting corpse. He groaned at the thought, thankful these hallucinations only occurred at Fazbear Fright.
The phone rang, piercing his decaying eardrums.
"After all these years, they still do these blasted calls." Reluctantly, he picked up the phone, holding it a few centimeters away from his ear.
"Hey again! Looks like the electrician was a good idea eh? Ha! Well anway, that's not what I'm calling about tonight." He paused for a moment, Michael could hear shuffling on the other end. "You know how we've been finding old parts of animatronic bits? Ya know, a leg hear, a face plate there? Well you'll never guess what we discovered.. we found one, a real one." Michael's eyes widened slightly, they found an intact Freddy's animatronic? Endoskeleton and all? Before he could even ask anything, the man on the otherside was already answering away. "We've been wanting to open up that boarded doorway for aagggees now, and I'm glad we did! It looks like an old Bonnie suit, smelled terrible! But nothing a good clean won't fix. Well that's about it for tonight dude, I'll be in touch!" The line went dead, leaving Michael to stare blankly ahead of him
He thought back to his childhood years, he could only recall the one Bonnie animatronic, at Freddy's atleast.
"Who exactly did they find..?"
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The emergency exit was once again cracked open, her toolbox bounced slightly against her leg, moving to open the door fully. She decided to shut it completely, her or Michael could open it again if need be.
"Good Evening!" She announced, a pleasant tone gracing her voice and she poked her head into the decrepit office. Michael spun around in his chair, turning to face her.
"Evening" He responded, one foot slightly bouncing under the desk.
"I'm gonna work on more of the wiring tonight, how did the generator hold up?" She moved so she was fully standing in the doorway, holding her toolbox with both hands.
Michael gave a curt nod.
"Better than usual" He said plainly, the mask once again covering most of his facial features.
"I wonder what he looks like..?"
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"Yikes.." She muttered to herself, staring intently at some of the old wire she had just replace. It was practically a melted glob of red and yellow. "I'm surprised this place didn't burn ages ago." She disposed of the melted wire in a small white bag, before continuing to cut, snip, and replace the wire.
thud thud thud
"Those noises again..?" This couldn't be a coincidence.... right?
She placed her pliers down for a moment, fiddling with her slightly oversized gloves as she tried to tune out the loud noise of the generator. What could be thudding? Old air conditioning? "I don't think this place ever had an air conditioning system.."
thud thud THUD
It was getting closer and closer, the narrow hallways amplifying the sound.
"Weird.." She mumbled, putting away the few tools she had out, placing her toolbox in the corner for safe keeping.
Moving through the maze-like hallways, the only thought on her mind was reaching Michael, reaching another human being.
This place was starting to get to her, the lack of regular noise, the lack of human interaction, the lack of interaction with any living being was starting to make her feel queasy.. and it was only her second day.
Finally reaching the office, the thudding sound slowly fading back to something more bareable. She peeked inside the office, watching the british man fiddle with a broken black pen.
"I guess once the place closes, not much happens."
boy was she wrong.
"Hey Mike?" She called out, hoping she wasn't overstepping with a nickname.
He turned his head towards her, his silver eyes piercing into hers
"Sorry if that's overstepping a bit.." She choked out, lightly scratching her arm at the sudden awkwardness.
"It's alright, I don't mind" He responded, turning fully towards her.
"Are you here just to test out that nickname? Or did you actually need something?" His tone wasn't harsh, he actually sounded.. slightly amused?
"Oh!- No no!" She laughed softly, waving a hand out infront of her. "I just keep hearing this thudding sound? I heard it last night aswell, but it's gotten a lot louder." She explained, gesturing towards the hallway she had just emerged from.
"Thudding..?" Michael questioned, slightly dragging the word out. "What kind of thudding." His tone turned more serious, his hand that was layed flat on the table now clenched.
"Um.. like if someone was repeatedly dropping a metal beam on the floor?" She hoped that answered his question.
His eyes widened, whipping his head around towards the dark hallway.
He knew this had something to do with that newly recovered animatronic.
" It must be possessed.." He wished he could remember another Bonnie animatronic, he felt as if his own rotting brain was hiding something from him.
thud thud THUD
"Get inside." He demanded, his eyes not moving from the empty hallway.
"Huh?" She tilted her head slightly at his sudden demand.
THUD THUD THUD
"There's no time to explain!!" He shouted as quietly as he could.
Quickly picking up on the sudden urgency, she ducked into the office, standing beside him. The rusted swivel chair protesting at every one of Mike's jerky movements.
He pressed a button on the glitchy security pad, a child's laugh boomed from somewhere deep within the old pizzeria.
THUD thud thud
The pair began to breathe again, taking gulps of stale air, their eyes fixated on the faintly lit doorway.
After a few moments of silence, she spoke up.
"What was THAT?" Her eyes widened, her legs slightly shaking.
Michael sighed, dragging his bandaged hand across his masked face. Mysterious as always.
"Don't worry about it alright? Just do your job and everything will be fine." He stated, finality evident in his tone. She decided she wouldn't press him more, maybe she could even find out for herself.
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I've been cooking this fic up for awhile, but just couldn't find the right words for the ending until now! Slow updates will be coming soon for this new fic!
Chapter 2: here!
