//------------------------------//
// Everything Burns 
// Story: The Joy of Recreation 
// by Spettro138 
//------------------------------//

4:30 AM


They can see me...

For the last week, part timer Michael Afton had to endure crippling darkness and the many demons that hid within it. The incandescent light from the light bulb above him and the glowing icons on the computer on his desk were the only source of ambient light that he had in this small office. A small metal fan was the only source of fresh air he had gotten in the nights that he worked here. His only friendly company was a small white and pink animatronic bear named Helpy who sat atop his PC and instructed him through his daily duties. 

Michael knew that Helpy's words and personality were programmed in, but he enjoyed the friendly company regardless. He pat the bear on the head with genuine affection as one would a beloved pet. It was a strange job, offered by a man that seemed oddly familiar to him, but he didn't mind. Someone had to do it. Given what he knew what was about to happen there, it didn't matter in the slightest. The conditions were something that he could have cared less about. His family was here, and he had to deal with them properly. 

He picked up Helpy and for a moment and saw a flash of a familiar toy from his past in the animatronic. Gold fur, black eyes with beady white irises, and a deep violet bow tie. It made him think back to darker times that he could not fully recall all the time. The years of his life before he woke up in the hospital with amnesia.

All he could find in his mind's eye were images and fragments. Short little scenes of memories that seemed to happen to somebody else. A stranger that he couldn't recognize, yet was familiar. Scenes of a happy diner, filled with parties and happy children that ran around playing tag, drawing pictures, and eating greasy pizza around giant robotic animals that sang and danced. A dirty yellow rabbit suit that his father often had around with him. A house filled with many monsters and nightmares that stalked the hallways that oozed with lies and evil. A closet that hid a tiny plush fox. A bed where his plush friends would talk to him.

One image in particular that he would always come back to was a Crying Child, playing with his best friend, a Fredbear doll that he would often talk to. The Crying Child was often bullied by his brother and the dolls were the only escape that the Child had. His visions would always end with the image of a giant body of golden fur and a massive set of teeth closing around his skull, followed by pain and darkness.

A knocking of metal on metal came from the left hand vent next to his cramped office. Forcing him to quickly shut off the computer and shine his powerful taser flashlight into the inky black abyss, his only defense against anything that dared to come forth.

For a minute he waited and stared into the nothingness.

Silence was no comfort. Not in this place. It would never be.

Each time this happened during the week, he could almost feel lifeless breathing going down his neck that made his skin crawl. He would always turn around to face whatever would be there. Always, there would only be the emptiness of the locked door behind him, and an icy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Keeping a grip on his flashlight, he turned his computer back on and played a sound in one of the vent junctions on the opposite end of the building. Hoping to draw away anything that might be lurking inside.

He let down his guard for a moment and looked at the child drawings on the wall behind his computer. Wondering who they belonged to and who might have drawn them. One of them was of a tiny blonde girl with green eyes, hugging Lefty Blackbear. It was crudely drawn with a crayon, but still well enough for a child. A few drops of condensation from the walls of the vents had dripped into a few of the drawings on the wall, but this one had been left untouched. Almost like it was reminding him of someone special.

"El," Michael said to himself dreamily. "I hope you are still there somewhere."

El. It was one of the few things he actually remembered from before. Not much, but still something. It was the nickname he would give his sister sometimes. They would sometimes play in her room with the many stuffed animals their father had brought from work. They were fun times.

He didn't remember the day his sister disappeared very well. How could he? Michael was only a little boy when it happened. Even though it was earlier in his life where the memory gap didn't intrude upon him. All he recalled was how upset he felt and the sound of his parents fighting. Then his mother just left the house without another word.

Focusing on every sound around him seemed to make all of the memories flood back into Michael's mind. Despite him trying to block them out. He tried to concentrate only on the metal fan in front of him as he continued with his nightly duties. The memories would always intrude upon him when he was least expecting it. It was an unpleasant feeling.

Suddenly, the loud noise of an advertisement from one of the restaurant's sponsors on the computer spooked him. Making him nearly jump out of his skin as he tried to silence the advertisement before it drew anything closer. With his hands all sweaty and clammy from apprehension, he dragged the mouse to the corner and shut down the ad. It was just a random local toothpaste company that had given him extra money to advertise there. At the expense of his sanity and patience. When it shut off, he found that his hands were violently shaking. He had to breathe deeply for a moment and focus to stop.

He had once been told by his father that his sister was trapped somewhere, but still alive. It made him happy at first, if he had only known how much would have changed when the truth was revealed.

Much to his eternal torment, he went to the Sister Location his father had detailed. Indeed, he finally found his lost sister. Unfortunately, what made her the girl he had once loved, was gone forever. Through her, Michael discovered everything. Every lie, every deceit, every drop of blood that had been spilled by his family. Even something new about himself that became the saving grace he needed to cheat death. Everything that led him here, to this little office.

One day he found a little job. Not retail, but a pizzeria with a familiar name, offered by a familiar source.

Through the week, he had been directed by a man with a familiar voice that always spoke through a recorded cassette tape. Salvaging old robots that always felt familiar, cleaning the many rooms and lavatories, buying supplies, and attractions. 

Looking at his glowing digital watch, he could see it was 5 in the morning.

'Almost morning,' he thought. 'Did I really expect anything else?'

A thumping and shuffling of metal bending and collapsing in on itself echoed through the vents. Like some animal stepping across the roof of a car, bending the exterior slightly. Michael couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Suddenly, off in the darkness of the right vent, he could hear the familiar laughter of a voice he knew very well. A voice he had hoped that he would hear again in the next life. The voice like always was calm and gentle, but with an underlying tone of deceit and hostility that he always heard from someone else in his family.

"You played right into our hands." the voice said.


Michael's breathing became shallow as he started to well up with sadness and a strange joy at hearing the voice again.

"Hi El," Michael greeted the voice. "Its great to hear your voice again. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy. Despite everything. I hope you remember me this time."

The female presence didn't even seem to acknowledge what he said as it sighed with euphoria and a sickening lust.

 "Did you really think that this job fell out of the sky just for you?" she continued. "No. This was a gift. A gift that daddy gave to us. Yes, I know who you are. I figured it out a long time ago. You gathered them all together in one place. Just like he asked you to. All of those little souls. In one place. Just for us. A gift. Now we can do what we were created to do. And be complete. I will make you proud daddy! Watch. Listen. And be full!"


Suddenly, the intercom just above his computer fizzled and started up, seemingly coming to life without warning. The same familiar voice Michael had heard through the cassette tapes spoke up. Just like always, the voice was calm and tired, but confident. As if the man it belonged to was about to do something that he knew had to happen.

"Connection terminated. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Elizabeth, if you still even remember that name, but I'm afraid you've been misinformed." the male voice on the intercom said. 

“I know that voice. From long ago. You are Mister Henry,” the female voice replied with hatred. “Daddy always told us you were trouble.’

"You are not here to receive a gift, nor have you been called here by the individual you assume. Although you have indeed been called. You have all been called here into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune. A labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize. You don't even realize that you're trapped. Your lust for blood has driven you in endless circles, chasing the cries of children in some unseen chamber always seeming so near, yet somehow out of reach. But you will never find them. None of you will. This is where your story ends."


"And to you, my brave volunteer, who somehow found this job listing not intended for you: although there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want. I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be. I am remaining as well. I am nearby. This place will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away, as the agony of every tragedy should."

"And to you monsters trapped in the corridors, be still and give up your spirits. They don't belong to you. For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps more, waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the Devil waiting, William."

"My sweet little Charlotte, my little Puppet Master, if you can hear me, I knew you would return as well. It's in your nature to protect the innocent. I'm sorry on that day, the day you were shut out and left to die in the cold, no one was there to lift you up into their arms the way you lifted others into yours. And then, what became of you. I should have known you wouldn't be content to disappear, not my daughter. I couldn't save you then, so let me save you now. It's time to rest; for you, your Marionette, and for those you have carried into your arms."

"Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy...and you as well my old partner in gold. Yes, I know you are there. I've always known you were there. Watching from the darkness just out of eyesight. You and my Charlotte have watched over everything since this nightmare began. All of you. Thank you for fighting the good fight, and giving my daughter friends when she was alone. Thank you for harboring all of the children. For protecting their souls from HIS wrath. Go to your paradise of light in peace my children."

"This ends for all of us. End communication."


Michael smiled as the intercom once again shut off, leaving him in silence, comforted with his coming death. Knowing that everything was finally brought to a proper close. He was with his family. As he wanted to be.

A cacophony of tortured voices roared and screams echoed throughout the building. Some were incoherent and illegible, speaking names of past loved ones and lost experiences they never got to live. Two voices screamed higher than the rest, their rage burning like the fire of a billion suns. Cursing the names of the people that finally ended their reign of darkness and terror. 

The building gradually became hotter and hotter until it burst into flames, creating one final fire that burned everything living and non living inside. Their dying screams would never be heard from anyone, save for the demons they would have to meet after the fire was gone.





6AM arrived that morning in the town of Hurricane, Utah as it always has and always would. It was the first day of November. The air was beginning to get crisp and cold, carrying a gentle nibbling breeze that blew through town. The leaves on all of the trees were falling asleep, turning bright shades of gold, yellow, and crimson red as one last show for the earth before winter. Small droplets of rain were steadily falling from the sky, coating the ground in a thick layer of dew and moisture that cleaned the air of all impurities. This morning, it was a good sign, as the rain almost seemed to aid in purifying a burning building that seemed to reek with something foul. Something that only Halloween the night before could only bring to a once heavenly town.

As the Hurricane Fire Department arrived on the scene, the building was already crumbling to the ground. Pieces of the blackened walls fell off piece by piece, like a set of dominoes that was taking it's time. Crimson red flames with golden flickering ribbons of heat danced all around like an ethereal ballet. The rain falling from overhead made the flames sizzle and sputter as smoke rose up out of the air and mixed into the clouds. The fire crews waste no time in trying to put out the fire, not knowing if it contained anything living. This was just another non-descript warehouse to them that had been built a month prior. A building that was meant to be neither noticed nor payed attention to. The building had been payed with in cash from a man that nobody could seem to properly identify. 

Many children walking to school with their parents saw the fire and felt as if they were drawn to it. It was a feeling that none of them could explain. They all felt a tightness growing in their chest in the sight of the crumbling building. Like they just witnessed a close friend pass on and leave without saying goodbye. A friend that they had lived with, laughed with and played with for years and was like family at times. The name of the friend though, was something that started to fade away. So they all moved on with their day, as they should have. Content with their happy lives that they were lucky enough to have. Blissfully unaware of the horrors that the fire and rain was finally destroying forever. 

One child however, gave one last look at the building. For many years to come, he could have sworn he saw four lone ghostly figures, almost transparent to his eyes. Standing alone by a field, just outside the perimeter of the fire. They appeared to be children, not much older than he was. Three boys and one girl. All four of them did not seem to be there entirely. Only he alone was able to see them as adults of all sorts walked around the rubble and didn't even seem to notice that they existed at all. It confused him as he tried peering over to get a better look at all four of them.

The girl had curly golden blonde locks that went right over her ears with a red ribbon that bounced over her shoulders. Around her neck was a tiny white bow that somehow enhanced her looks overall. She wore what used to be a bright pink dress. Now tattered and ripped, as if something had torn it to shreds deliberately. Her eyes were a bright blue, like calm seawater around a tropical island. The child next to her was a short, lanky boy with a flushed face and freckles. Messy bright red hair stuck out the top of his head that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. He wore a simple green shirt and khaki shorts that barely reached his knees. The boy next to him was a stocky african american child, slightly taller than the others. His neat dark hair draped down his back that went over a dark lavender shirt that fit him snugly. His tight tattered jeans almost appeared to be a size too small for the boy as they constricted his legs. The last child seemed to stand out more than the others. As if the world itself begged for him to be noticed by creation. He was a little boy of medium build with his hands in his pockets. Dark brown eyes, almost black in the cloudy day that poked out from behind a forest of equally dark brown hair. His black shirt with two lone grey stripes hung loosely, covering the waist of his short blue trousers.

Walking by with his parents, he could almost see the four ethereal children moving their lips silently. As if they were speaking but with no audible sound. It confused him, but before he could sneak away to get closer to them, his father snatched him up and continued with him on the way to school.

"So that's the end of it." the stocky boy said simply. "The Purple Man is finally gone."

"So are the other two who were there." the girl said sadly. "Even after all they did to try to help us."

"That's the way things go," the skinny boy replied. 

"That one security guard who found our clues in that haunted house is still alive." the lavender shirted boy said. "What was his name?"

"Mark. The funny man who screamed and cursed a lot." the little girl replied with a giggle. He gave himself a funny nickname too. "Multiplier" or something like that."

The black shirted boy walked over to something that he spotted by the perimeter of the rubble that was once a building. It was almost hidden in the tall grass that covered the edge of the concrete that divided the property from the field. 

"What is it Gabriel?" the girl asked.

Reaching down and picking up the piece of metal, his ghostly fingers clenched as he realized what it was. A spring lock. The other children scowled at the piece of metal as if it was something they hated. Of course, it once belonged to someone. Someone they despised. Even though his eternal inferno was sealed, the piece of metal still seemed to ooze with his malice and his evil. In an odd way however, this little spring lock and many others like it were part of what led to their salvation.

"I had hoped all of him burned away or was at least smashed to pieces. No dice I guess," the lanky boy said.

"It was thanks to those girls that this could finally happen," the black shirt boy finally said.

"Where are they anyway?"

The boy stood straight and closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was concentrating on something important. The other children have seen the boy do this before, just not in their current forms. They were waiting for a few  others who were supposed to to join them when they all finally passed on. Just like always though, the two in particular were never bound to any rules. Let alone their own. It was something they had grown used to by this point. They became like family, albeit under hellish circumstances not under their control.

"Where are you two? Its time to go home. Everyone is waiting for us."

For a few minutes, all the group could hear was the wind, the rain, and the distant sound of the fire trucks that had already arrived on the scene of the fire.  Then, somewhere off in the distance, just at the edge of the woods, a lone empty golden bear suit appeared there, writhing silently in the dirt. Followed by the sound of a little girl laughing. Its mouth hung open lifelessly, and yet a haunting voice spoke with a commanding presence.

"...No."

"No? What do you mean no? We've been waiting for this for years! We're free!" the blonde little girl exclaimed.

"Don't...need...us...anymore...but...another...place does." it said

"What? where?"

"Charlotte dreamed...and found... a paradise...with monsters...demons...and angels."

"Where is she Cassidy?" Gabriel asked, a bit more forcefully than he probably meant to. 

The suit stopped writhing for a moment, its barely visible white eyes darting around. As if it were thinking. 

"I...sent her...there. But...she can't do it...alone. She...needs...THEM."

"What should we do?" the little girl asked the others. "We can't just leave her behind!"

The next two words that came out of the suit were words that they have heard before. Words that led to everything that had happened. The words came out electrical and broken, like they were being spoken through a barely functional walkie talkie. 

"S...
A...
V...
E...
T...
H...
E...
M..."

Next Time: New Life