Chapter Text
"Hurry it up, dork!" Shouted Andrew, running up ahead.
"Seriously? You know I woke up 30 minutes ago..." You replied, dreading the thought of going any faster.
"C'mon, dude! Weren't you the one who wanted to see those freaky robots?" He said, grabbing your arm and forcing you to jog. He wasn't wrong, you had always been fascinated by animatronics. That's why he had suggested going to the original location. Even if they did move all the electronics to other locations, the building could be some nice nostalgia. Of course, it had to be in the woods. Where there were invisible cobwebs waiting to snag your face & multiple safety hazards. Andrew could have driven you, but as he said: “Where’s the fun in that?”
It was only a few minutes more of walking, you could see the once vibrant colors of the original building now faded between the tree leaves. You'd say it was poetic, but it was more neglected than anything. With a sigh and being dragged by your only friend in this town, you tiredly continued towards the establishment.
Of course, the doors were locked when you got there. Locked, and completely boarded up. The windows, doors, and even a vent had a piece of wood nailed on them to prevent intruders.
“Be glad I brought a crowbar, this should make removing these easy.” Andrew said, pulling it out of his duffel bag. Let's hope he was only using it to break into abandoned buildings and not bashing skulls in. He hooked it under a board and attempted to pry the thing off. Instead, he just fell back and dropped the crowbar. Then he tried again but to no avail.
“I'm just gonna look for a rotten board I can break and squeeze past, alright?” You asked, walking off before he could get up again. You walked towards the left side of the entrance, grabbing random boards and yanking them to see if anything happens. Nothing budged. None of the windows looked ready to break either. Maybe the vent?
You glanced up at it, the board was smaller so probably less durable. It'd be a bit tight, but if you could open the door, Andrew could just go between the wood instead of breaking his back using the crowbar.
Climbing on top of the wobbly dumpster, you steadied yourself before trying to pull off the board. It easily popped off after a few tugs.
Now, time to prepare yourself for a tight squeeze. Using most of your upper body strength, you boosted yourself into the vent.
It was cramped. The air was much mustier and dead-body-like than you'd hoped. Moss grew on the walls and there were small pools of water on the bottom of the vent. You were definitely gonna wash this at home. Moving through the vent, you quickly came to a fork in the path. Eeny Meenie Miney Mo decided you go right, so that's what you did.
Or at least, that's what you were gonna do.
Before the vent broke open. And you fell.
*THUMP*
You couldn't even process the fact you had fallen before you felt a huge pain in your back. Something broke your fall, but it most definitely broke as well. Looks like a table, with some faded party hats stabbing your side. Getting up, you walked towards the front door and jolted it open with ease. Guess it unlocks from the inside?
“Dude, I thought you died!” Andrew shouted, struggling to get between the wooden boards. “You just fell onto that table and I genuinely thought I would have to leave you out here!”
“You were gonna leave me out here?”
Andrew paused.
“Only if you were dead.”
“At least give me a funeral dude.” You grabbed his arm, successfully pulling him through the boards.
“Ok, anyway,” He shouted, wiping the dirt off his jacket. “Time to look through some old shit.”
It wasn't as adventurous as you thought it might be. None of the arcade machines worked (obviously), there were possums in the kitchen, and parts and service was completely cleaned out. You were about to declare this adventure over before spotting a door at the end of a hall. It looked kind of ominous from this angle, maybe it had some merchandise?
While Andrew was trying to see if there was any money left in the arcade, you wandered down the corridor.
The door itself was bland, “STAFF ONLY” the best clue as to what its purpose was. Pulling on the handle revealed it was locked. Of course. Andrew was using the crowbar to try and open the arcade cabinets, so looks like you had to do some lock picking. It took a few times, as you were rusty, but eventually, you managed to get it open.
Slowly, the door creaked open, you felt hesitant to open it. It's like something was watching you from deep inside the room. It was dark, so you pulled out your phone and turned on the flashlight. There were 2, maybe 3 arcade machines, thrown around and mangled. It looked like a bear attacked them. The floor was cracked, a few tiles missing, and thrown in a corner. You opened the door further, moving the flashlight to the part of the room you couldn't see. Some crates had also been trashed, but that wasn't what you were looking at.
There was an animatronic. On the floor. And it was covered in blood.
Was someone inside that thing? How long were they in there? Are they dead? You looked over the thing in shock, thousands of questions running through your head. Your thoughts finally stopped when you noticed its finger...
Twitch.
Is... Is it alive?
“You good dude?” Shouted Andrew from the other room.
“Uh- Yeah!” You quickly looked back at the robot. No way, it was probably your imagination. Maybe it just has some battery left?
“Are you sure? I'm done with these Arcade Machines, only had a few nickles.” He asked again, voice more faded. He was probably on his way out.
“Yup! I'll meet you outside in a second.” You replied, still staring at the animatronic. With a sigh, you just closed the door. You heard it click as you did so, guess it automatically locks? This animatronic could go for a lot, but you don't have anything to bring it home in right now. Andrew should have used his damn truck, now you gotta come back with your van tomorrow.
You quickly followed behind Andrew, unable to hear the door try to unlock from the other side.