Bitter Brown, Harsh Hazel, Bright Blue

Sun had stopped midstep, their back facing them as the room was thrust into a threatening darkness. Their thin frame began to shake, going from a scared shiver to a violent thrashing as they whipped around and faced them.

“No- NO! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?” They shrieked, their voice piercing the tense silence that had fallen once the lights went out. They began to shift around, their head spinning as they searched the room for any source of light. “Lights on! LIGHTS ON!” They begged desperately, their hands gripping at the top of their head so tight it felt like their plastic face might begin to crack.

They took a step toward the two, their eyes trained solely on Gregory, as if blaming him for the darkness that had swept over the whole daycare. “I warned you- I WARNED YOU!” Their voice grew increasingly louder as they screeched at the boy, jumping up on the counter and thrusting a finger in his direction. Gregory had hopped off of the chair, his eyes shining with terror.

Sun began to pull at their face, their actions so erratic that they began to tear at the plastic spikes lining it. They let out a blood-curdling scream, before it shifted into growling and groaning as they fell backwards off the counter. Yet, a thump never followed to signify they had landed safely, thrusting the two back into fearful silence.

“W-What happened…?” The boy’s tiny horrified voice snapped them out of their frozen state, their head whipping to where he was crouched behind his chair. They ditched their own seat, rushing to stand in front of the boy as they knew what was coming next, arms spread protectively and gaze hardened to try and ward off what was about to appear.

“Naughty boy…” The sound was so quiet, they almost didn’t hear it over the thumping of their heart taking over their ears, but unluckily for them, the creature repeated themself. “Naughty boy…” The voice sounded like a growl, raspy from lack of use yet threatening enough to cause Clay’s neck hair to stand on end. Familiar slender fingers peeked over the counter, drumming against it one by one, however these were blue and gray rather than the usual yellows.

Finally, the source of the creepy voice revealed itself, joining their fingers in peering over the counter. It looked like Sun, but it wasn’t, their face had gotten darker and their beady eyes glowed a threatening red as they zoomed in on Gregory alone. It was Moon, the other daycare attendant.

“It’s past your bedtime… You must be punished.” They slowly made their way up onto the desk, looming over the two humans while they shifted their weight between their feet in a strange dance, the jingle that the movement caused was much less comforting now, and Clay tried to gulp down their fears as they held their position of standing protectively in front of the child.

“Nighty-night.” They seemed to purr, their voice crackling on the ends as they stared down at them both. They gave a giggle of insane glee, before leaping over the two and disappearing into the darkness that surrounded them.

Clay turned to Gregory, their hands shaking as they tried to figure out what they should say to him. They didn’t know how to comfort him, and the fact that Gregory probably blamed them for suggesting they come here in the first place began to press itself into their brain and cause them more anxiety. Gregory wasn’t facing them though, his attention trained on where Moon had last been before they were swallowed by the darkness, or maybe he was trying to hide how petrified he was. They couldn’t tell.

‘Gregory!’ Freddy’s voice sounded from the boy’s Fazwatch, saving Clay from struggling to speak. Gregory looked down to the small blue screen, his eyes were illuminated by the light of the watch, revealing how glassy they were with tears that threatened to escape past them. ‘I do not know what you did, but the lights are out in the daycare!’

“Freddy!” Gregory cried, his other hand gripping his wrist as he pulled the Fazwatch closer to his face for comfort, his mouth moved but no words came out as he seemingly struggled to figure out what he would even begin to say. “P-Please- Come back, I-I don’t want to stay here anymore!”

‘I am on my way, but you will need to get the power back on!’

Freddy didn’t say anything else, but Gregory continued to search the screen for any signs that he may. They swallowed down the lump in their throat, crouching down into a kneeling position “Gregory.” They tried to keep their tone calm, which was a task in itself. Gregory faced them, not even trying to hide his distress like he usually would.

“The generators are inside the play equipment.” Gregory opened his mouth but they cut him off with a wary sigh. “Yes, I know it’s stupid, I didn’t design it.”

“Anyway,” They glanced behind them, barely able to make out the edge of the indoor playground hidden in the dark. “You’ll have to go in and switch them on, there’s about 5 I think.”

“B-But how can I? It’s dark a-and that Moon thing-” He stuttered, searching over Clay’s head for any signs of the lanky animatronic who had disappeared mere moments ago.

Their hands dragged along their belt, patting down the accessory until they found what they had been looking for. “Here.” They held it out to Gregory. It was their flashlight, it was a bit heavy-duty but they were sure it would be more useful to him than to them. Gregory took it off of them, holding it in both hands and rolling it so he could get a good look at it in the dim light from his Fazwatch. His wide eyes turned to Clay, clearly unsure of what to say.

They saved him from having to figure it out by continuing, trying to appear brave or at least competent. “I’ll distract Moon, but if they start paying attention to you instead, just hold the flashlight in their eyes, okay? It’ll only work for a little bit but it should be long enough for you to move.”

“I’m scared.” Gregory admitted, overwhelmed by the plan he had just been given, he held the flashlight close to his chest as he looked down at his sneakers. His breathing was heavy, and Clay felt their throat tighten with concern. No kid should have to deal with this, but they didn’t have a choice.

They placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Gregory to look back at them. “You’ve got this.” They reassured him softly, forcing a small smile. The boy just stood there, not making a sound, before he finally gave a shaky nod.

Clay nodded back, getting to their feet and pulling at the ends of their gray shirt to straighten it. Their eyes travelled along the darkness, taking in a deep breath to sum up what little courage they had, holding it for a moment before they let it out. They ditched the reception desk, sprinting around in the dark until they felt that they were far enough from the faint glow in the distance that was Gregory’s Fazwatch and the dull monitors of the reception desk.

They sucked in a shaky breath, cupping their hands over their mouth before shouting as loudly as they could “OVER HERE!”

Silence.

And then a hiss.

They had not expected the sound to be so close, looking over their shoulder only to be met with a pair of glowing red dots closing in on them. The minimal light was just enough to illuminate the grin of the animatronic that was weaving and wrapping around the sides of the playground in their direction. They let out a yelp, and began to rush away, arms outstretched to stop them from slamming into anything that may lay ahead of them in the dark.

It was to no avail though, as they felt their body hit something cylindrical, causing whatever it was to hit the ground with a dull, hollow thud. It kind of sounded like a drum, which would have left them confused if they weren’t currently being hunted down. They tried to move past what they had crashed into, but they stepped onto one of them by mistake, it rolled under their foot and they let out a shout as their chest collided harshly with the floor, leaving them winded and unable to move.

“Rrrrrgh…!” The frustrated growl sounded behind them, and they clenched their eyes shut as they accepted their fate.

“Clean up… Clean up…!”

Moon paid them no mind, going around where they lay as they picked up the drums and began to assemble them back into a tower. Clay gasped as their body finally let them inhale, relishing in the air that flooded their lungs, though they chose to ignore the hint of plastic. They didn’t give themself time to recover further, shakily getting to their feet and staggering away to create distance between the two.

Their eyes never left the focused killer robot, leading them to walking backwards straight into the play equipment. They let themself rest against it for a moment, using the back of their semi-gloved hand to rub their sweaty forehead, not that it seemed to make much of an impact as they were still so petrified.

Moon had finished cleaning up, their head doing a slow spin as they surveyed the area “Knock knock…” Their voice was low and staticky as they seemingly zeroed in on something in the distance.

Gregory.

“HEY! HEY!” Clay shouted once again, waving one arm in the air as Moon’s head snapped to the source of the sound and once again began skittering across the floor toward them. They pressed their hands against the playground, pushing off of it and using the momentum to speed past the animatronic. Moon gave an excited giggle at the chase, spinning so fast on its feet to race after them that they had no choice but to go faster and push themself to their physical limits.

They went straight back to the drums, rearing one leg back and slamming it straight into the colourful equipment. It all fell apart, causing a ruckus and making Moon give another frustrated growl at the prospect of cleaning up, yet they followed their programming as they approached the set.

Clay skidded to a halt, their hot and heavy breath hitting their own face as they finally stopped running. They were tired, but they couldn’t stop. Not until Gregory managed to get all the generators, they briefly tried to look for him but it was too dark to make out much. Except… Another set of crimson eyes.

Their mouth fell open in shock, glancing to where Moon was still tidying just to make sure they hadn’t somehow teleported. What was that? The pitch blackness surrounding them made it too difficult to figure out what it was, but it was coming toward them, they could see the tiny pupils in the red abyss the closer it got to them. They took a step backward in response, and then another, before they spun on their heel and bolted.

They heard a menacingly playful cackle behind them, it wasn’t like Moon’s though, it sounded almost human which unnerved them even further, the sound of footsteps growing just as fast as their own.

They accidentally made their way back toward the reception desk, but decided to use the familiar location to their advantage, slamming their hand onto the counter and groping around in the darkness to try and find- “Aha!” They didn’t mean to vocalise the moment they grabbed what they needed to, but their emotions were currently too overwhelming to keep in check thanks to the adrenaline. They pulled their tablet to their chest, forgetting that it was currently plugged in which accidentally dragged the monitor with them and caused it to crash against the floor. They would have to deal with that later. They slammed their thumb against the home button, bringing the tablet to life and casting light on the figure that was chasing after them.

It was a rabbit. A white rabbit with patchwork-like fur, though right now the pelt was a mix of dark red and pale blue from the contrasting lights shining down on it. Clay was able to make out the rise and fall of its chest beneath the frankensteined materials and minimal lighting. Animatronics did not breathe.

“Get away!” Clay shouted at it, attempting to hold their ground in hopes to ward it off. They held the tablet up, before thrusting it at the smiling rabbit’s face, the cord pulling the computer screen to also crash against the strange creature. It let out a shout, moving its hands to the area of impact, giving Clay enough time to notice a blade shining in the dull light, its sharp edge glimmering from where it was in the rabbit’s paws. They gave a gasp, backing away until their lower back collided with the table behind them.

The white rabbit recovered quickly, its shoulders slumping as another creepy laugh left its mouth that was frozen in an intimidating open smile. It skipped forward, its movements light and child-like in the creepiest way possible, the knife span in its patchwork paws. “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Clay yelled desperately, their hands travelling erratically along the table behind them to try and find more items to throw in an attempt to save themself, their hand curled around the handle of a coffee jug and they raised it above their head.

But it was too late.

“Are you having fun yet?”

The coffee jug shattered against the floor.

Their eyes widened and their brown pupils shrank. Their horrified gaze slowly fell down to their torso, finally resting on the blade that was burrowed deep into their flesh. Their hands descended to their sides, hovering around the wound and twitching as they struggled to choke out any words. It was burning, it was aching. It hurt so bad. But they couldn’t scream, they couldn’t move. They were frozen in shock.

The rabbit gave another sickly sweet giggle, twisting the knife deeper into the wound. The pain was unbearable, and they finally tore through the thorns in their throat to let out a blood-curdling scream of pure agony. They tried to push away from the white rabbit who continued to move closer to them, their hands digging into the fabric over its arms as they tore at it in desperation to escape the excruciating pain.

Its paw curled around the handle of the knife tighter, before tearing it the rest of the way with one swift movement until the weapon was free from Clay’s stomach. They screeched so hard that it felt like their throat would tear into two, it felt so raw that they couldn’t even force out any sobs afterwards. Their hands moved to try and clutch at the area of scorching pain, but it was everywhere. Everything hurts. Their hands felt hot with the blood that gushed from their front, shaking so badly that they flicked droplets of blood around the surrounding area, including the face of the rabbit that was currently laughing at their misery.

Moon had begun to move closer to the noisy scene, but the rabbit distracted them with one finger pointed toward the darkness. Their beady red eyes followed the gesture, their grin deepening as they crawled back into the shadows to hunt down their prey. Clay couldn’t even shout after them, they couldn’t speak, they could barely breathe.

Their legs wobbled so hard that they ended up falling to their knees, splashing down into a puddle of their own blood that had begun to surround their black glossy shoes. Their desperate attempts to breathe resulted in them almost hyperventilating, sucking in air as quickly as they breathed it out as they began to choke on their own blood that had crept up the length of their throat alongside the bile.

Clay didn’t realise they had been moved until the plush hands under their armpits disappeared, leaving them in the swivel chair they had occupied before things went to shit. The corners of their vision were blurring, yet they were still conscious enough to watch the rabbit fix them with an open-mouthed grin, turning the chair away from the exit to the daycare so they couldn’t see it, before they were left alone. They could only fight against the urge to give in and rest their eyes, their limbs slack against the chair holding them in place. The blood was beginning to come and pool into their mouth, the overwhelming and disgusting taste of copper covering their tongue before the deep maroon liquid oozed and drooled down their chin onto their already red-stained shirt.

Their eyelids had never felt so heavy. The pain they had been experiencing had begun ebbing away into numbness, leaving them only with their frantically screaming mind for comfort.

The lights came back on, the sudden change in colour and atmosphere jerking them awake for a brief moment. Gregory had done it. But was he alright?

“Clay?” They heard a voice calling their name, it was unmistakingly human, unmistakingly Gregory, in their barely-conscious state they somehow felt relief. Yet they couldn’t respond, their lips quivered at the attempt to open their mouth, but more blood just fell out and poured down onto their chest. “I heard screaming! Where are you? I turned the lights back on!”

“Clay? Hello?” Gregory called again, sounding uncertain, they could hear the noise his sneakers gave off as he walked around searching for them. Their chair must be facing away from wherever he was, all they could do was give out a pathetic whimper in response. Their body felt so heavy, and hot, hot with sticky blood, hot with dull pain, they didn’t know what to do as they continued to fight against unconsciousness.

The next sound they heard was Gregory yelping in surprise, followed by Sun’s shrill voice destroying the relatively quiet atmosphere of the daycare. “Rule-breaker! RULE-BREAKER!”

The jingling of bells followed, Sun must be moving. “Put me down!” Gregory demanded angrily, and they could hear him grunt as he struggled to escape whatever grip he was currently in.

“You are BANNED from the DAYCARE!” Sun shrieked, and they heard Gregory give a panicked shout that gradually grew distant. Had they just thrown him!?

“SECURITY ALERT! SECURITY ALERT! WOOO!! WOOO!!!” Sun’s voice grew ear-piercingly loud, before the slam of the daycare doors followed.

The only sound that came after that was Sun muttering and scurrying around, spitting child-friendly curses at the boy who was no longer here.

They tried to focus on moving, but their head just lulled uselessly to the side, before their whole body followed and they collapsed out of the chair to crash into the floor below, the impact causing their stab wound to begin burning with newfound pain. They couldn’t help but groan, finally finding the strength to limply move their arms to hold the painful area. The urge to sleep was strong, especially now that they were pressed against the cold floor. They don’t think they can fight it anymore.

They felt weak, but most importantly, they felt rage. They had been this close to leaving this horrible place behind, and now they would die on their last shift within the confinement of this neon prison. Heat radiated from their face again, but this time it was from the salty tears that rolled down their face as they began to angrily cry, their sobs coming out in splutters as they tried to wail around the blood invading their mouth.

How dare that fucking rabbit do this to them!?

How dare this place do this to them!?

They heard a screech of horror, Sun must have found them.

But they couldn’t react, it was too late.

Their blood-coated chest rose with one final shaky breath before their dull vision finally faded to black.

—

“Gregory! Jump in! We need to get out of here now, they have found you!”

Gregory picked himself up after being literally thrown out of the daycare, turning on his heel and running toward Freddy. He could see Chica moving toward him through the corner of his eyes, her beak wide and eyes glowing with harmful intent. Gregory’s fingers latched onto the edge of the plastic platform, struggling to pull himself up onto the much taller animatronic’s hatch. Freddy leaned slightly, lowering the height and using his large paws to push Gregory up. The boy had no time to thank him, quickly curling up inside while the lid closed around him, thrusting him back into darkness he had just escaped.

Chica blinked a few times, seemingly not understanding where the kid had disappeared to, but she didn’t persist and instead turned around and stalked away, her menacing movements not fitting her cutesy design. In the background, he could hear Monty give a low growl, he hadn’t known the alligator was there too, which just made him more relieved he had made it in time.

‘Where is Officer Hawthorne?’ Freddy’s voice came from his Fazwatch after a moment of moving away from the danger in silence, Gregory understood that he didn’t want to actually speak while the other two animatronics were lurking around close-by. He pulled the watch close to his mouth to respond, yet, he struggled to answer, because he didn’t know.

The two had separated when ‘Moon’ had revealed themself, Clay promising to distract the creepy animatronic while Gregory found the generators littered inside of the indoor playset. He still didn’t understand why they were put in there of all places, but Clay didn’t seem to know either so he hadn’t asked.

On the third generator, he had heard Clay shouting. It wasn’t the same as the calling they had done to distract Moon, it sounded desperate and scared. And not long after, Gregory had heard two pain-stricken screams. He rubbed his hands along his arms as he recalled the bone-chilling sound, his arm hair was standing on end.

After he had successfully restored power to the daycare, Clay had been nowhere. Not that he had much time to search, but where would a tall adult even hide? He swallowed, his mouth felt dry.

‘Gregory?’ Freddy’s voice drew him out of his head, and he blinked a few times before bringing the watch back up.

“I don’t know, he disappeared when the lights came on.” Gregory answered honestly.

‘That is odd. Do you have any idea what could have happened to them?’

“Nope.” That was also the truth, but for some reason he decided not to inform Freddy of the screaming he had heard.

‘If only I could contact them.’ Freddy’s voice sighed through the little blue screen ‘But I am still experiencing a connection error. Hopefully we will run into them again.’

Gregory gave a doubtful murmur of agreement. Despite Freddy’s optimism, he didn’t feel reassured that they would ever see Clay again.