Chapter Text
The trill of the corded desk phone was the only greeting I got as I shuffled into the sterile greenish light of the police station. Janice was behind the reception desk as usual, but her attention was reserved for those she deemed worthy. Being a rookie cop transfer from out of state, I wasn't granted that privilege. I kept my eyes forward as I strode for the door behind her desk that would lead me further into the Granite Falls Police Station.
The door opened to a long hall, still lit with the same buzzing overhead lights as the lobby. My quick footsteps echoed down the hall, past the cork boards equally plastered with "missing person" posters and "chili cook off" flyers. I tried to book it the women's locker room, craving a locked bathroom stall where I could squeeze an hour of peace before roll call, but a boom of laughter erupted right as I crossed the door frame to the break room where a group of day shift officers were currently burning tax payer money.
"Who's that trying to sneak by us?" A voice called out, causing me to freeze in place. I grit my teeth, wishing I had the seniority to ignore his beckoning. Instead, I roll my shoulders back and reel in my annoyance at being spotted. Stiffly, I backtracked to stand in the doorway with a polite, tight-lipped smile plastered on my face. The voice belonged to Tony Pickman, a twenty year veteran on the force who treats the police station like his second house. I'm not surprised to see him here, leaning back in his chair with his feet kicked up. In fact, I can't remember a time where Tony wasn't sitting in the break room when I got here. What a waste.
There were others in the room, I think the red haired woman was Shelly and the brunette man next to her was her trainee Cole. Maybe. Tony immediately filled the awkward silence, as his beady eyes narrowed on me, "oh! The new night shift ghoul. Mary, right?"
"(Y/n)." I correct him with a strained politeness, treating him with the same distant respect awarded to anyone over the age of fifty. This wasn't the first time I'd corrected him about my name, I doubted it'd be the last. Shelly shot Tony an indulgent look that said she'd noticed the same subtle disrespect, but we all knew she'd never correct him. I started to excuse myself when Shelly asked me how the shift was treating me. I told her the usual, that nights are hard to adjust to but once you do it isn't too bad, and that I enjoyed the excitement that came with the sort of calls you get on nights.
"I'm glad to hear it, I thought for sure you'd be a goner after taking the Freddy's beat. Before Vanessa, there was no one able to stomach that place for longer than a few nights...until of course what happened last winter."
My stomach flipped thinking about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Vanessa's sudden exit from the police force. At first it was explained away as medical leave for a surgery, but after people started digging the 'official' story was that she was attacked by a group of teenagers who'd been trying to break into Freddy's and promptly quit after. They shuffled through a few more seasoned officers before eventually I landed in their lap, the perfect guinea pig for the cursed patrol.
"I don't mind," I assure her, shutting the conversation down. Cole shot his trainer a curious glance, he was newer than me so he probably hasn't heard about Freddy's yet. "Isn't that place condemned? Why does anyone have to watch it?" Tony noticed the opportunity to make himself the center of attention again, preparing to launch into the lore right as I made a hasty exit, feeling eyes on me as I mumbled something about needing to get changed. "Isn't the one Afton kid still in town?" Shelly asked, but I wasn't sticking around to hear the answer. I still caught the words "serial killer" and "haunted animatronics" as I shut the locker room door behind me. I'd only have half an hour of stolen tax payer money now, but I needed it. My hands were shaking as I put my things away and laced my boots. I'd heard that story before, but it doesn't stop the surge of adrenaline that courses through me whenever I think about going there. What if there's something they missed? In less than an hour I'd be parked outside that building, watching. And waiting.
-
After roll call was over, all the night shift officers dispersed to their assignments. We were all around the same age and a lot less chatty than the day shift crew. We didn't have it as easy, things in Granite Falls got a lot weirder at night. I tried to ignore my ruminations by methodically cruising around town, but my curiosity had been baited by the breakroom talk. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was something all the native townspeople had in common, and if you asked anyone over the age of 20 about it, they'd get a wistful gleam in their eyes while retelling stories of birthday parties, arcade games, and of course, the animatronics. But it was always soon after they remembered their favorite character that I saw the warm nostalgia drain from their expressions. No one liked to remember why they can never go back.
I came to a stop outside of Freddy's and flipped off my lights to give my eyes a chance to adjust to the dark. No self respecting criminal would ever dare crossing into the path of my headlights, I might as well try to meet them on an even playing field. The atmosphere here was undeniably eerie, like the edge of a dark forest, there's just enough visible to be recognizable, but you don't truly know what's hiding in the dark. The bright colors and cartoon graphics were muted by years of neglect, and the layers of toxic lead paint were being slowly peeled away by the hands of time. It didn't feel like an abandoned restaurant, more like an untended grave. I tried to reel in the memories, but the nostalgic energy of this place was hard to ignore, like it wormed into your mind and dragged out all the things you didn't want to see. For me, I couldn't stop thinking about my Mom.
See, my Mom grew up in Granite Falls and only moved away after she became pregnant with me. I never knew anything about my Dad, but I used to see a picture of a man in her bedside table whenever I snuck into her room growing up. I could never look at the picture for long, something about it made me feel hollow even as a little girl. One day the photo was moved, and as time passed I gradually forgot his face. It made Mom angry anytime I asked, so eventually I gave up. Mom was only twenty, and being a single mother, her only option was to move closer to her remaining family in Ohio.
I don't remember hearing anything about her hometown until I was almost in high school, because that's when all those kids started going missing from Freddy's. Missing person cases weren't unheard of, especially missing children, but for all of them to go missing in such a short period of time from the same restaurant was just too much of a coincidence for my mother to let go of.
One night, we were eating our TV dinners on the couch while watching the news. My hair was wet and neatly braided into one smooth plait, and I could taste the sugar-sweet scent of my cotton candy body spray with every inhale. Mom had a lit cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Slim Quick in the other, but all around she was as content as I felt. It had been a good day for Mom, her new boyfriend Eddy stopped by with flowers to celebrate landing her new job at Walgreens. We hadn't argued once all day, a feat for any mother with her pubescent daughter. That's why my heart stopped cold in my chest the moment those words left news anchor's mouth.
"There's been an update in the missing children's incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, officials concluded no foul play was involved, but the company is still shutting down the restaurant out of respect-"
Tension seeped into the room like cold air through a drafty window. Mom put her drink down and shut the TV off without another word. I looked over at her, hoping the warm aura of our day would be enough to insulate us both from the hurricane of emotions I'd come to expect whenever her hometown was brought up. I expected anger, but instead, Mom was crying. Her eyes stared blankly at the the black screen as tears rolled freely down her cheeks. I waited, bracing myself for the shouting, the stomping, the holy damnation for anyone with the last name "Afton." Instead, there was only silence.
"Mom?"
She didn't look at me, only said "he got away with it," in a whisper so faint I almost missed it. Before I could ask who, she silently stood and shut herself away in her room for the next week. To this day no one knows what really happened at Freddy's, but there's something in the back of my mind that knows there's more to the story. It's half the reason I moved to this dead end town in the first place. The other reason I came to Granite Falls?
They don't run background checks on their police officers.
"Unit 983, do you copy?"
I take a moment to decide whether or not to answer Janice on the radio, sometimes if I wait long enough she'll just call on the next available unit. But tonight I could use a break from Freddy's, so I answer.
"I do, over."
A pause while Janice decided whether it was worth correcting my radio manners. Apparently it wasn't, "We've received calls about a potential break-in nearby, can you go check it out?"
"Sure, show me en route......Over."
Grateful for the distraction but resenting having to leave my post for only a 'potential' break-in, I began making my way towards the address Janice had sent to my on-board computer system. My forehead creased as I tried to wrack my brain for what could be this close to my daily route, yet so out of the way that I've never seen it or been called to it. Cautiously, I pull into what might've been a parking lot at some point but has definitely seen better days. There's no vehicles or signs of disturbance among the overgrowth of foliage, so I flip my searchlight on to get a better look at the building. The bright beam of light immediately lands on the sign, revealing a distantly familiar bear wearing a top-hat. Horror seeps into my gut as I read the letters underneath, "Fredbear's Family Diner!"
Dread flooded over me, shooting ice right into my veins. This whole time, there was another location? Did anyone else know about this? I couldn't tear my eyes away, unbelieving what was so clearly in-front of my eyes. Shaking from a mix of fear and adrenaline, I move the searchlight methodically around the surrounding area, eventually spotting the reason for the call. My stomach tightened as the light revealed the front doors, and then completely liquified when I noticed the chain in a piled on the ground.
And the definite hand print smear in the dust on the glass from where someone recently forced it open.
"Dispatch, Unit 983 on scene," I called in, relying on the crackle of the radio to hide the tremor in my voice, "stepping out on foot to investigate."
I didn't wait for a response, instead I snatched my gun from the glove box and hastily exited my vehicle.