1983, January 16, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza
I cocked my head to the side and arched an eyebrow.
"What's so cool about him? He just sings."
Gabe's vision remained focused on the stage.
"He sings so well for a robot. Besides he's a got a fancy little top hat and bow tie", he turned towards me, " He's totally glam and I just think he's neat."
It's very rare Gabe ever looks this starry-eyed about anything, maybe only rivaled by math, so I of course fell in love with these animatronics too. This was about 2 years ago.
Today is Gabe's 7th birthday. Freddy wasn't on stage, something about needing repairs. His aunt suggested just having the party tomorrow, but he decided he wanted it on his birthday.
Now we stood in front of the stage listening to Chica sing. Gabe looked a little disappointed.
"It's not the same with her."
"I know. How 'bout we go play some games? If I get more tickets I get to wear your hat for a week."
Gabe reached up to his baseball cap.
We ran off to different parts of the arcade. I picked the basketball game cause it was the only thing I was good at. Gabe hit up skeeball.
After about 8 rounds and only 20 tickets, the game was hacked, I met back up with Gabe. He was having trouble. He's unfocused.
"Gabe, the pizza is here. Hi, Jemmy."
I grabbed Cassidy's arm and led her to the side.
"Hey, Cassie. Could you help me make sure Gabe's birthday is fantastic?"
"He's disappointed cause Freddy isn't here."
"Oh. I'll make sure he gets the best slice of pizza and cake!"
We both go to the table. One of the mascots is cutting the pizza. Isn't that the golden rabbit from the cartoon? I think his name is Spring.
Spring gives Gabe a large smile and a pat on the head. His mouth can't really change but he looked kind of sinister.
Cassidy points to the nicest-looking slice.
"Do you want that one, sweetie?"
She shakes her head, "That one's for Gabriel."
Gabe looks surprised as the slice is passed to him. He whispers something to Cassidy and she answers back louder than him. I can't hear either but I have a feeling they were talking about the pizza.
Jesse grabs two slices and almost falls on the table. Michael panics and falls out of his seat. Teddy laughs at the two of them while Cassidy yells about him "going to ruin the pizza!"
I catch Gabe's eyes. I'm holding back a laugh. He smiles a genuine, starry-eyed, grin. The pizzeria feels brighter now.
After eating I gesture for Cassidy to come over.
"I think this party is turning out great."
"I think so too. When's the cake getting here?"
"I don't know. Did they make it Chocolate like the twins prefer?"
"I'm gonna find an adult."
She wonders off. Gabe and Jesse argue over some arcade machine. I can only see yellow from this far. Wait.
I touch my face. I dropped my glasses somewhere. Panic washes over.
"Guys, I can't find my glasses!"
"Hey, where'd you last have them?"
He remains quiet. My vision is extra fuzzy with the added addition of neon lights. Something Gold approaches.
"Are these your glasses Jeremy?"
His voice is chilling. He has sort of an Australian accent, I think. Maybe closer to southern Texas.
He's holding something green and thin. I take them and put them on. I can see much clearer now. My glasses are green, round, wireframes.
He waves bye to me and hands out pizza to another table. He seems to be very fluid for a robot.
"You found your glasses!"
I turn towards the one who spoke. It's hard to tell the twins apart, alright. Same hair, same dark skin, same lucky birthday shirt, and same slightly country accent.
This one is not wearing a hat, my best guess is he's Jesse. Unless he stole his hat. In which case I'm doomed.
"Spring found them for me."
"Cool, Gabe's got Pac-Man right now so I wanna play some air hockey."
"Sure, but I'm not very good at it."
We play 12 rounds, I lose 9 of them. Jesse then wanders off to the arcade games. Gabriel is struggling with Fruity Maze. The game seems to spit coins out immediately or eat them.
"Gabe, maybe you should play a different one. I heard that's been glitching out for months."
"I wanna play this one though. I've already beat most of the other ones."
The games screen started flashing suddenly and the little girl popped up on the screen.
The game went static a couple of times and the girl was replaced with an 8-bit blood-covered figure occasionally.
"Has the game always been this way?"
"I don't know", I confessed, "I've never played."
Dogs covered in blood and flowers started showing up. I heard breathing behind us. I turned around and was met with Spring standing above us.
"Uh, hey. It's okay if he plays the game right?"
"The game seems to be out of order. Perhaps there's a virus in the system. Maybe you should leave it be for now."
His accent sounded a lot thicker and he sounded twice as sinister. Gabriel went out of bounds and the game ended.
"Aw, man. Hey, how come no one fixed it yet?"
I felt chills run down my body. Why was this rabbit so creepy? A silvery glint caught my eyes.
That can't be right, Spring has green eyes.
Spring knelt down to our height. He looked almost inviting like this.
"Freddy hasn't been on stage all day. He's feeling a bit better now. Would you like to see him? Your own solo show. Just for the birthday kid?"
"Can Jeremy come with me?"
That seemed to shock Spring. I could feel him grinning wider at the thought.
"Absolutely. He's right this way."
Gabe grabbed my hand and dragged me along. I tried to protest but seeing his excited face shut me up. He loved Freddy and seeing that look was probably worth being around this weird bunny.
We were led to a dark hallway behind an employees-only door. At the end of the hall was another room.
He opened the door for us and motioned for us to join him in the room. Gabe led me in. I could see the blue glow of Freddy's eyes in the pitch black.
I smelled something gross, like old things. I felt dust fall on my face. I wiped it away. Does this room ever get cleaned?
Something reflected the light of Freddy's eyes. It was near Spring. It came close to my arm and hurt. I stepped back, towards the door.
Gabe's attention shifted to me. When had the lights been turned on? Something behind Freddy caught my attention. Fabric?
Torn up, pink, fabric and a large, red, hair bow sat on the dirty ground. Something brown had dried up near it.
Gabriel's words drew attention to my arm. I am bleeding. Blood flowed down. My hand was probably coated in it.
"Let's make this easy on me and it won't be too painful for you."
Gabe stepped closer to me. I was inches away from the door. Gabe turned towards me and whispered, "run."
I slowly walked out of the room. I kept my gaze on Spring's knife. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"So you wanna do this the hard way huh?"
He grabbed Gabriel's arm.
I charged Spring. He stumbled a little and dropped his knife. I kicked it deeper in the room and grabbed Gabe's hand.
We ran down the hall and reached the door. It opened into the arcade area. No one was there. I felt a hand around my shoulder. I was forcefully dragged back.
Gabriel is crying. I'm kicking and hitting Spring. Gabriel is hitting him too.
I reach out and pat Gabe on the head one last time. His hat has been jarred by the movement, but it's still there.
Gabe races down the hall, towards the arcade area. I think he tripped on the way.
I grab hold of the door frame and struggle with holding on. I kick at Spring and he lets go and steps out of reach.
I pull myself out of the room. Spring is searching in the back. I hear footsteps come up. I can smell peppermint. Gabriel came back.
"You're in danger. I'm not leaving my best friend behind."
He just shrugs. Spring has found his knife. He saunters over to us. He took off his head. I can't see his face all that well though. My glasses fell off again.
Gabe is in a protective stance in front of me. His posture is rigid. He looks like a brick wall.
"You're barely tall enough to ride a carousel, what do you really think you can do?"
He starts laughing. It's hysterical laughter. I'm feeling really sleepy. He stops laughing.
"You're real funny, you know."
He steps over and crouches. He gives Gabe a hair ruffle and I see his arm move fast and there's a squish. Gabe falls down. Blood pools around him. I choke back a scream.
"You're almost finished yourself. I'll have to find something to clean this up, eventually."
I shake the exhaustion out. I reach for Gabe's hand.
"Gabe, stay, stay with me. You're gonna be okay. We're gonna, we're gonna be fine."
He reaches for me and grabs my hand.
"You were always such a bright star Jemmy. A superstar even."
"Please, not right now man. I think pressing on the wound does something. Try, try that!"
My breathing was sporadic and my vision dimmed. Gabe's chest heaved. Then it didn't. I was pressing on his wound.
"Gabe? Hey, wake, please wake up."
No response. I shook him a little.
Whatever strength was keeping me going, was fading. I think Dad called it adrenaline?
I laid next to him on the stone floor, freezing. He was too fuzzy to make out details. Where's his hat right now?
I closed my eyes. I'm so ti-
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