1:00 am

     C'mon. The night guard should be hearing vile screeching. His voice box lasted this long, it could go on for hours longer. An animatronic shrouded by darkness launched his fist at a solid surface.

BANG!

BANG! BANG!

"SCREEEEEEEEEE!"

His night vision wasn't the best. Glitches and lags used to frustrate the crap out of him. Now, it drove him insane.

"Where's a camera?! Where?!"

Deactivated mascots slumped against the basement wall. The conscious one ran from corner to corner, trying to feel for objects. Water pipes attached to the ceiling leaked sewage water onto random spots.

Raindrops fell in the narrow gap of his arm and shoulder. Delicate wires fizzled, rendering the left side of his body in momentary paralysis. In the unstable pose, he tipped over.

K-kccrash!

"Gah!"

     A trash can shriveled underneath his weight. Ohh. Maybe this could make more noise.

—————-

1:06 am

Rrrrring! Ring!

Thomas narrowed his eyes at the office phone. Who's insomniac enough to call at this hour?

Ring! Ring! Rrrrrring!

     He leaned in closer, observing neon green numbers that displayed an unknown number. Thomas reached out to pick it up, but gave it a second thought, and brought his hand back down.

"Nope. I don't know you, I am not picking up."

     The day shift employees could deal with prank calls instead.

———————-

Virgil clashed the giant tin can against the door. Each time, it received more dents and folds. It bruised up like a cheap soda can. No good. The animatronic cried out in frustration and threw the compressed object one last time.

They weren't getting out. No matter how hard he screamed or how much he pleaded, nobody came. He warned the idiot before, now their night guard was surely in the crossfire!

"Thomas, you moron..." The metal man placed a hand on the door.

His mind swirled with excessive worry. No doubt, the hitman would run after him and shove Thomas into death's door. Sooner or later, more children will suffer the same fate as the pizzeria's mascots. What if William takes down even more people after that?!

And more and more and more and more...!

Virgil hunched back, wincing at every worst case scenario that crossed his mind. He tapped his foot, drumming fingers against metal cheeks.

"He needs to get out...needs to get out...out...safe...somewhere safe."

None of this would be happening if the restaurant hired an oblivious guy instead! If he didn't even exist, there'd be no trouble.

"Didn't exist."

A part of him liked that idea? But wouldn't it be better if he just...

"Doesn't exist."

Better. Much better.

Vigil stepped away from the exit. The anxiety washed into something new. A pulse of urgent emotion rippled from the back of his head. The animatronic paced back and forth, putting a bounce of anticipation into every step. He needed to do something. Anything!

Find the guard.

Virgil's hands twitched. He tilted his head, looking back at the rest of the deactivated robots. The essential desire to find the guard before them heightened with every second that ticked by. A game was about to begin and he'd do anything to be the winner!

     His fists opened and closed. Delightful. He imagined it delightful to hear bones cracking under his grip, easier than chalk. See blood pool out and jump in it like rain puddles! The animatronic chuckled.

     Yeah! He couldn't wait! Where was the stranger?

Beyond the door. He'll come soon.

—————————

"Don't want to answer? Fine, I'll leave a message."

     Thomas munched from a bag of chips, uninterested.

"I'm a friend of the manager here, he's feeling under the weather and couldn't make this call."

     The guard stopped chewing.

"But he wanted me to inform you that the animatronics must be placed back on their stages before 6 am. An incident happened earlier today and they were taken to the basement for repairs."

     Oh, thank goodness. At least he knew where they were now.

"The keys to the basement are in your drawer. The second bottom one on the left if I remember correctly."

He glanced at said spot.

"If you can't complete this task, the day crew will take care of it and you'll be fired. Goodnight and good luck."

     The message ended in a 'click'. Thomas picked up the keys and swiveled off his chair. Didn't need to say that twice.

—————————

     One by one, the others awoke. They, too, wanted to be the first to massacre a stranger. Virgil held his arms out, blocking the door.

"No—I woke up first! I'm getting him!"

Patton put his hands on his hips. "Nu-uh! I am!"

A fanciful robot pushed the shorter one aside. "Pfft! I bet you don't even know how to take him out."

"I have experience!" The latter chided. "Remember that one kid?!"

The puppet skittered up Virgil's body and covered his eyes. They giggled as a very irritated machine attempted to claw them off.

"Hey! No fair!"

The sound of knives sharpening themselves and Logan's empty, cold voice projected over their bickering. "Strategy. Teamwork. The element of surprise. I have a foolproof plan to get him. You just need to do as I say—"

"Ugh! You talk too much!" Roman clapped his thumb and fingers together, mocking a talking gesture. "Blah bla this and blah blah that. You're no fun!"

"Talyn! Get off!"

"I'm not gonna let you win!" They hissed.

     Virgil growled. He whipped his head backwards, forcefully pinning the marionette against the wall.

"Ooh!" Patton noticed the commotion and began jumping in place, the light in his eyes wild with cruelty. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

     The purple animatronic thrashed his face around. Against the wall. Shaking it crazy. Jumping to the ceiling. With each blow the puppet lost its grip, but not every bit of it.

     They held on fast to his damn eye socket.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEE!"

He lashed out an arm and finally smacked the creature away. Their body slumped on the floor. A coin tittered beside them.

"Ow. Jerk." Talyn seethed, legs wobbling as they stood up.

     Virgil blinked rapidly. Why did he do that?

     A crowned robot took advantage of his hesitation and shoved the anxious persona out of his way. "Move over peasants, there's a prince of blood and tears in town and it's me!"

"Absurd. You make it seem like your main literal components are those liquids." Logan said. "I'd suggest Killer Prince."

Roman gasped. "That's perfect!" Without warning, his shoulders rose; making a double-take at the entrance. "Shut up! Everyone shut up!"

     The five animatronics fell quiet. Muffled footsteps and a humming, male voice resonated on the other side of the door.

"I know what I'll do. Give him a nice, big bear hug." Patton giggled hollowly.

Uh, wait a sec. The one-eyed robot retraced his steps. Everyone was acting weird...and he vaguely remembered being bloodthirsty for someone—

"I'm gonna get him first!" The puppet climbed up uneven bricks and balanced on top of the doorframe. They took on the form of a jaguar ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

"Get who?"

"The guard, dummy." A glitched version of Roman's pale face responded.

     Vigil peered at the coin that fell out of nowhere. Actually, this was no currency. A blinking, glowing dot was placed in the middle of a metallic, circular device. Why didn't he see it before? What was it?

     Footsteps came closer. This time, he caught onto the jangling of keys.

     The intrusive thoughts urging to become acted on flooded his memory. He remembered. All of it. The past 10 minutes filled with a deep yearn for murder. Blinking dots showcased themselves on the back of Roman and Logan's head as they talked to one another in close whispers.

     Patton had one too. And Talyn...

Oh no. No. No no nononononono. This had his signature all over it. Virgil pressed his back against the door, holding it from opening. He looked at his friends.

"Guys!"

Icy glares landed on him in unison.

"William is controlling you! You really don't wanna kill—"

"Oh kiddo, don't be silly!" Patton cooed, tilting his head to the side. "We're gonna have lots of fun..."

A key inserted itself into a metal slot. They heard every lock shift as it rotated. If his mechanical heart operated the same way as a real one, it would've sent him into cardiac arrest by now.

"...now move."

————————————-

The door wouldn't open. Thomas pocketed the keys and commenced putting his full weight against it.

"C'mon." He grumbled. "The remotes heard everything..."

Faint clashes and animal-like roars went off from the basement. Thomas stopped. What else was the restaurant hiding?

He sighed, and tried again. An all too familiar scream reached his ears.

"Virge? Buddy, what's wrong?!"

The door unbolted. It cracked open, displaying a line of pitch black from the room it concealed. One terrified lavender eye focused on him. Virgil's voice, distorted and an octave deeper, rasped a single word.

"Run."

.............
Chapter 10 next Monday❗️