00.17

abbreviation key: 

S/T  |  skin tone

_____________________

"You know, you got lucky." Vanessa eyes me with worry. I nod in response. "I know." I shake my head down at the floor. "I feel so stupid. Maybe I should have tried to keep the lights on. And, I know I kept pushing my luck, but I—"

"Hey," she presses a hand to my shoulder. "It's alright. This isn't your fault."

I feel more tears brim my vision. "I shouldn't have left Sun like that. He probably hates me."

"It'll be okay." She sighs. "They're just animatronics. I don't think they can really feel anything, anyways." Her brows knit together.

I shake my head to disagree. "They do."

"Look, it'll be fine. He'll probably forget all about it in the morning, after a good restart!" She smiles. I frown back. "No, Vanessa, they don't just forget. Sun remembered me from when I was a kid. He told me he refused to delete my guest profile." I say.

Vanessa's smile falters, eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

I nod. "He's really gonna hate me now. But . . I-I just can't go back there. I need to move back to being in the dining room, or, even just quit? I'unno what to do yet." My voice begins to wobble with anxiety. I'm pissed. I'm upset. I don't want to do this.

Sun and Moon had been giving me so much purpose, lately. I love seeing them. I loved working with them, everything about the two of them, just made me feel so happy.

But now, after all of this, I don't know how to feel about it anymore. Maybe it's a sign.

"Don't quit. Y/N, you're like the best worker we've ever had in years! Aside from me." She lightens the mood with a smile. "Tell them that you want to work the day shift, and be as far from the daycare as possible."

But, that wasn't really what I wanted to do. It was what had to be done.

"I guess I could do that." I hum softly. Though, the thoughts in the back of my mind kept telling me otherwise. If I couldn't be in the daycare anymore, did I really even want to work here, at this point?

We walk to the main lobby, after a while of catching my breath, venting, and bandaging me up. We check the time on our watches. "Well, it's almost time for the doors to lock up. You better get out of here." She tells me.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." I mumble. "Oh, and be careful. I heard Chica was out walking around, again."

Vanessa groans. "Oh, great. Thanks. I'll keep an eye out."

As I turn on my heel, and she turns on hers, I grab the door handles. Vanessa let's out an 'oh' and turns back to me again. I furrow a brow and look at her, taking my hand off the doors. "Before I forget . . have you seen anything weird happening here lately? I heard there was a little boy roaming around the area by himself outside, today. I'm just hoping he wasn't casing the place." Vanessa shrugs, a look of curiously on her features.

I shake my head. "No, I haven't heard anything about that."

"Oh, okay. Well, if you see anything tomorrow night, let me know."

If I'm even working here, tomorrow night.

I nod, and say my goodbyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As I lay in bed, I stare up at the ceiling. All I can think about was what happened tonight. Those red eyes kept flashing back into my head, especially when I'd try to close my eyes. Guess sleeping wasn't gonna be happening for me, tonight.

Sun had been sending me a few messages through my fazwatch, but I had left it on the nightstand to be ignored. I'd deal with them a different time.

A soft knock hit my bedroom door. I furrow my brows and sit up, slowly, painfully. Isabella opens the door to a crack, then comes into my room after shutting the door behind her. I frown and let my sore neck rest back on the pillows again.

"Y/N?" Her little voice whispers.

"Why are you awake? It's past midnight." I frown down at her.

"I couldn't sleep . . I had a nightmare. And mom doesn't want me to wake her up for this stuff anymore." She sniffles.

"So you think that I want you to wake me up instead?" I tease softly.

She gasps, looking my S/T body over. Although it was a bit dark in my room, my body wasn't a sight to be missed. My neck was red, and already starting to bruise. It had finger marks on it. Moon's finger marks. Cuts and slashes on my shoulder. The cut on my cheek. Purple bruises on both sides of my jaw from his metal hand grabbing it too tight.

"Y/N-" she cuts herself off. Her little hands gently trace over my wounds and bruises. I flinch back, and swat her hand away. "What happened?" Her voice was laced with anxiety, and shock. "Are you okay?"

Tears flood my eyes and I sniffle my nose. Instead of looking at her, I save my vision. "I understand now . ." I mumble softly. "Why you don't like nap time, anymore."

Her brows knit together in confusion, as she stands at the side of my bed. I feel her eyes trace my injuries. "Wait . . this happened at work?" Her gaze meets me. Isabella's eyes are wide. "Who did that to you?"

I don't want to say. It hurts thinking about them. The way I just left Sun, like it was his fault. It wasn't his fault. It was a virus.

Moon would have never done something like that to me. And I know Sun feels awful.

"Moon." I say. There's a lightness to my voice, like it was hard to believe. But that was because it was. "He um, caught a virus." I clear my throat, "So I guess . . this happened." Another tear slips down my aching cheek.

She looked speechless. I don't blame her, I would be too. Her hand grabs mine, and she gives it a soft squeeze. I sniffle my nose and feel more tears pour down my cheek in silence.

"Well . . is there anything they can do about the virus?" Isabella asks. I shrug. "I don't know. I was the one who was trying to clear it. But once I unplugged him from the computer, he turned on, and went after me."

She hums in thought. I flinch as she takes a spot beside me on my bed. My sister crawls under the covers and leans her head on my shoulder. "I'm really sorry."

I stare at the ceiling and frown. "I'll be okay."

There's a soft silence between us for a minuet. I decide to break it.

"Do you really want to know who I like?" I ask her. She inhales a sharp breath, looking at me. "Yes."

I bite my bottom lip and inhale a nerve wracking breath. "It may sound silly, so you can't laugh." I warn. My finger points in her direction.

She shakes her head. "I promise I won't."

The sigh lets out of my aching chest. "It was Sun. And, I guess, Moon too."

"Huh?" She scrunches her face with confusion. "But . . they're not real people."

I smile. "I know. It was just a thing that sort of happened."

"But . . How?" Isabella asks.

"Well, they act like people. They're smart. Had conversations, emotions and feelings, just like you and I would." I tell her. "Well- - you know, you've been around them long enough to know."

"That's funny . . and sort of weird." She smiles, suppressing fits of giggles. I allow myself to laugh. "I know. But, it happened . . And I messed up big time." My smile falters. A heavy sigh escapes me again and I close my eyes to think.

How the hell was I supposed to fix this? Was there even a way of fixing it?

Maybe if I can just fix Moon . . Everything can go away. We could all be happy again.

"It'll be okay. Don't worry. You always know what to do!" She gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. I smile. "But, maybe you should put some ice on your cheek." She says. I feel her eyes looking me over again. "And your neck."

I nod, turning my back to her. "I should, but I'll do it tomorrow. I'm going to bed."

She sits there, frowning a little. "Y/N?" Her voice is soft in question. I hum curiously in reply.

"My nightmare . . it was about Moon."