Friends and Enemies

The Emily Residence - July 17, 1983 - Around 12:43 P.M.

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I tried my best to get over that horrific nightmare from last night, but I couldn't get that girl out of my head. I don't know what these nightmares mean. This morning, I told my Mom and Dad about that nightmare, but they didn't know what to make of it. Dad once told me that perhaps your nightmares could tell you something about yourself, like say, one of your deeper fears, or even a sign of what could happen in the future. But I have no idea what to make of my nightmare.

Instead, I tried to focus on other things. Around sometime in the afternoon, I got to go visit Charlie's house for a little hangout. From what I know, I've heard that Alex was going with Dad to Fredbear's for some "special surprise", but I didn't care about that at the moment. Besides, Charlie is always fun to be around. She's always in a happy and enlightening mood. I think I might've mentioned this before, but her Dad works at the same place my Dad works at, and because of that, she has a bunch of special robot-like toys, kind of like my mini Fredbear, but more unique.

Right now, I was in her room, as we both played with a handful of robots that her father designed for her. The room was kind of small, with the floor being tiled with dark, smooth wooden planks, the walls being colored light pink, and Charlie's bed was kind of a mess. Her room didn't look too dirty, but I could tell that she didn't always clean up her room.

Some of her favorite toys were Stanley, a small, white mechanical unicorn with wheels for feet and a multi-colored mane, and Theodore, which was basically a much smaller, playable version of Bonnie, the regular one, I mean, not the yellow one. He had the same purple fur, along with a nice red bowtie and two bright red cheeks, too. But then there was Charlie's favorite toy, which kind of honestly creeped me out. As she put down Stanley, Charlie started talking to me.

"Time to bring out Ella! Don't worry Michael, she'll only bring out a couple things. No worries."

I'm happy that she at least understands how I feel about that doll. With that, Charlie ran over to the side of her bed, and opened the small mini-closet that was right next to it. There was a small track connected to the mini-closet, precisely so that Ella could move around. Once Charlie opened it, the doll came out, rolling along the track with her roller-skate like shoes. Ella was around the size of a little kid, roughly smaller than Charlie, with a light-blue 1950s era looking fancy dress and long brown hair, with a frilly blue, fringed in pink ruffles, and a big pink bow around the waist, with bright pink cheeks. She was holding a small cup of tea in her hand, and gave it to Charlie.

The thing about Ella was that she was no ordinary robot. In fact, from what Charlie told me, her father found the doll in an abandoned warehouse, inside of a small box filled with some other gadgets and electronic devices. She told me her father even added several things to Ella's programming, giving her several new things she could do. The doll actually came with a small little booklet with a list of what Ella was programmed with. Ella could do all sorts of things. She could keep time, serve as an alarm clock, take photos, sing, read stories, and even serve drinks. She could even test the PH levels in water. According to the booklet, she was a high-tech helper doll, produced by Fazbear Entertainment.

If I'm being honest, I didn't understand why a toy needs to do all of these things, anyway. I mean, I can see why Charlie loves Ella, but I feel like that doll has been giving me some creepy looks. She seems to like Charlie, but the doll doesn't seem to like me at all. If I ever got too close to Charlie, Ella would give me a terrifying death stare, as sort of a warning to back up a bit. As Charlie drank from the teacup and was done, she gave the cup back to Ella, who took it and went back on her track, going back inside of her mini-closet. Charlie continued speaking to me.

"So Michael, you got any idea how the party on Friday is going to go?"

"I-I don't really know. My Dad hasn't told me anything about what he's got planned for Alex. All I know is that it's supposed to be some kind of surprise."

Charlie didn't seem to mind that news. She replied.

"As long as Alex has a great birthday, I'm sure it's going to be fine. Say, how old is Alex going to turn, anyway? I kind of forgot."

"He's going to be around, uh, six, or a bit close to six, I think. I still got a few months before I turn eight, though. But yeah."

"Oh, I see. Thanks, Michael. Say, how are you doing right now? Are you okay?"

I don't know why, but for some reason, those nightmares came back to mind. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to tell Charlie about what I've been seeing--wait. What am I saying? She's one of my best friends! I'm sure she would understand. Why did that thought even cross my mind? Anyways, I decided to tell her, but in a brief way.

"Yeah, it's just that...for the past two nights, I've been having some strange nightmares. I don't understand what they mean."

"What kind of nightmare? Like one of those dreams where you're trapped underwater and you slowly sink to the bottom?"

"No, it...it's different than that. In one of them, I was at Fredbear's, and in the other I was at home, but I saw a lot of those Freddy and Bonnie and other robots around me. And they didn't look anything like the ones I knew. The ones I saw looked like they had five sharks-worth of teeth. They looked like they could rip me apart to shreds."

Charlie didn't seem to understand it, either. She seemed intrigued, though. I continued.

"The first one gave me a fright, yes, but the second one was much worse. I remember...I saw a creepy version of Spring Bonnie, with a lot of sharp teeth hidden in his mouth. He told me to follow him, but I didn't, but then I saw a trail of blood, and when I followed it...I went to the backroom to find a dead girl. I think Spring Bonnie was the one who killed her. There was blood everywhere, a lot of other stuff happened, but that picture of that girl has been stuck inside my head. I can't get her out."

Charlie still didn't seem to understand it. But she did try to calm me down.

"That sounds very weird, Michael. I don't really understand it. Now that you mention it, though, it kind of reminds me of some nightmares I had once. It was a little while back, and I think I dreamt that Ella would sneak up on my in my sleep, walking around the house freely, doing all sorts of creepy things. It went on for a while before they stopped. But back to you. I wouldn't get too stressed about these nightmares, Michael. Remember, they're just figments of your imagination. They can't hurt you in the real world. There's no need to be afraid."

Easy for you to say. You weren't there to see them for yourself. Charlie continued.

"Besides, we got much happier things to think about! Your little brother's party, for example! Trust me, Michael, we're going to have a great time! My Dad told me he's helping setting up all the decorations and stuff for it."

"Well...I guess I can try that."

"That's the spirit, Mikey! Now, let's find something to get your mind off of that. Do you want to go downstairs and play with John and Sammy?"

"Eh...maybe. But not just yet. I still want to spend some time with you first."

Oh yeah, I forgot, you probably don't know who John is yet. I'll keep it brief. There's this kid at school I know named Johnathan Mathers that Charlie and I are friends with, but we just call him John. He's kind of a keen observer of the world around him, and he's also kind of the "writer" type if you know what I mean. He's got dark brown spiky hair, much spikier than mine, usually wearing a long-neck light brown jacket with a white undershirt. If I'm being honest, he's a nice guy and pretty funny to be around, but I think he also tries to, uh...flirt with Charlie occasionally.

Not that he has succeeded in any way, though. And I'm pretty sure if Ella ever saw him dare try anything with Charlie, she would probably slaughter him. Literally. He better not be getting any ideas.

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(Meanwhile, at Fredbear's Family Diner...)

It's okay, you're gonna be fine. They don't know where you are. You're safe from them under here. Just calm down. Alex was having a panic attack, hiding under one of the decorated tables at Fredbear's. William was busy working with Henry on something, so he didn't know what was happening to his son. Basically, when Dad brought me here, I went about my usual business. I was just enjoying myself to the arcade machines, minding my own business, with plenty of other customers and children in the building, when suddenly, two bullies came up to me.

I knew who one of the two bullies was, but the other one I had no idea. The first was a guy, wearing a dark grey, striped tank top, with a slight tan, black hair with a buzzcut, and a very grim expression. He was around two years older than me, and I knew certainly well who he was. That jerk is none other than Silas. He's one of the biggest bullies around here, but we don't see him here often. The other was a girl, probably around his age, with very long, curly black hair, that was neatly braided, wearing a large yellow sweater with blue stripes, and a long, light blue skirt.

I have no idea who the girl is, though. But I had enough common sense to know that Silas meant business. He is not the kind of person to pick you up when you're down. He'd probably just kick you in the stomach if he felt like it. I tried looking for Dad, but he was probably off doing some work here, so I didn't know what to do. Then, Silas got my attention.

"Well, well, look who is scared of the robots, eh?"

That jerk would always pick on me just because I wasn't comfortable around some of the animatronics. At least Michael only pulled a few pranks on me, but Silas outright harassed me for it. Naturally, I tried to defend myself.

"What do you want, Silas? Can't you just leave me alone?"

He did not take that very well, and neither did the girl next to him.

"Please, just because your dad works here doesn't mean I have to leave you alone, Afton."

Yeah, he knew about that, too. I don't know why, but he just hated my guts. I responded.

"Enough of that crap, Silas. Every time you come around, you keep bringing that up."

He grinned.

"Only cause it's true. And besides, what makes you so scared of the freaking furry robots, anyway? Why don't you just grow up, you little fleck?"

I was really pissed off when he said this, and then something slipped out of my mouth that I really regretted saying.

"At least I'm not the one with that ridiculous buzzcut. Seriously, it looks so short that you're practically bald."

Now of course, that wasn't true, but I couldn't control myself. And man, did Silas get mad. In fact, the girl next to him seemed to get even angrier than he was, and she snapped at me.

"That's it, you little shit! Nobody talks to Si that way and gets away with it!"

She lunged forward and tried to grab me, but I immediately made a run for it. I had no idea what the heck I was going to do, but I just kept running as fast as my legs could carry me. You stupid moron, why did you have to say that?! Those two are going to kill you if they catch you! They ran after me, but I was fast enough, and they lost track of where I was going. Right now, I was hiding underneath a table near the front, hoping they wouldn't find me.

I tried looking for a way around. Near the table I was at, I saw that there was a large red door near the back wall, with the words "EXIT" labeled on it. Okay, I'm right at the exit. If I run, I can make it. I desperately searched if Silas and the girl where near me, and thankfully they weren't for the moment. I gently climbed back from out of the table and tried to run for the exit. But when I turned to the exit, I saw that Silas was in my direction, and he immediately caught sight of me.

Crap! Too late! Panicked, I decided to keep running the other way while Silas and the black-haired girl ran after me. I've got to find someone who can help! I know what will happens if he catches me! After I ran past a couple more tables and kids at the place, I came close to the stage, next to the ball pit, filled with a wide variety of colored plastic balls. Silas and the girl were hot on my tail, and I was getting desperate to find a place to hide. I've got no choice, do I? With no other options left, I jumped inside of the ball pit and decided to try and wait them out. Okay, you just need to stay here and wait long enough until you get past them. You just need to be strong, Alex.

By the time Silas and the girl came to the ball pit, they lost track of where Alex was. Frustrated, Silas started muttering to himself.

"Come on! Where is this brat?! I swear, when I get my hands on him, he's going to pay-"

The girl tried to calm him down.

"Relax, Silas, if anyone's going to be laying a finger on that little shit, it's going to be me. You won't have to worry about a thing, Si."

She gave him a nice, warm hug, before Silas responded back.

"Thanks, Cassidy. I know I can always count on you."

"That's what I'm here for, Si."