Chapter 15

  The office, for the first time, was empty. An unfamiliar feeling would arise in anyone who dared to invade William's workplace, as if it was a completely different world from the outside. The room had dim white lighting, and the walls that had once been blue now appeared a shade of gray due to their fading. Unlike the rest of the house, which with its bright colors conveyed joy, the room maintained the same morbidity that the owner of the office carried throughout his life, and which was now passed on to his wife and son.  Michael sat down in the only chair present, letting his hand run over the dark, cool wood of the desk. The only objects on top of it were a lamp, a jar of pencils and pens, and a small stack of paper with the most varied projects that only his father could understand.  His vision was lost in the void in front of him, but his hand continued to pass through the wood until it grabbed a handle. His eyes then stopped inside the drawer that had just been opened and the papers found made his search begin to make real sense. Taking all the papers out of the drawer and placing them on top of the desk, Mike began to analyze all the notes, spreadsheets and diagrams contained within them.  The environment around him seemed to shake. He became more and more surprised, impressed, astonished by what he saw.  After finishing his quick read, the boy collected the most important papers and left the office, locking it again with the key that his mother didn't even know he had taken. His vision fell on the papers in his hand again. He knew well what to do with them.  A shiver ran down his spine and he finally realized what he was doing. The thought of going back surfaced in the back of his mind, but the boy forced himself to continue with the plan. He had promised Henry, after all.  One foot moved forward, then the other, and so on until he was just inches from the bedroom door. His free hand was extended and three long knocks on the wood could be heard.  Quickly, the door was opened.

  – I got the papers you asked for. He won't be able to stop you now.

  Cassidy was the first to get up, looking around in confusion. Her instincts told her to look for a way out, or at least find out where she was.  Even in the dark, Cassie managed to walk to a door, perhaps the only one in the room. Not very hopeful, she turned the handle, surprised to find that the door was unlocked.  Taking her first steps outside, the girl found herself in a room. A cold, empty and dark room.  Her body shook as the shiver ran down her spine. Still, Cassidy continued walking straight. The chances of her being alone in that place were almost infinite, and she had been through worse than a dark room or hallway anyway, so she needed to do something.  Finally managing to adjust her vision to the pitch-blackness of the place and also using her hands to feel things around her, Cassie was able to discover that she had bumped into a stage.

  – Cassie? – someone called as they approached the child.  – AH! – her first reaction was to throw a punch in the direction where the voice came from, ending up hitting the person in the face.  – Ai! Calm down, damn it! It's me, Gabriel! – he replied as he rubbed his own cheek.  – Gabriel? Your voice is different – the girl opened her mouth for the first time since waking up. – My voice is different.  – And now you're not a robot either.  – Did someone destroy Fredbear? Now I'm in the same place you were?  – No, this is real.  – So where are we? Where are the rest of them?  – I don't know, I woke up alone in a room and followed the sound of your footsteps. But if we're here, we can assume the others are too. Hm... – Gabe put his hands on his hips and looked around. – Do you have a flashlight? Anything that could light this place up?  – No...  – Okay, so first we have to find a light.  – This stage has lights, right? There should be a power button nearby.  – Okay, wait.

  Gabriel put his hands on the edge of the stage and crawled to the end of it. When he found a wall, he could now put his hands on it and continue walking until he found a nearby door. When he found nothing and felt he was too far away, he decided to return to the starting point and take the same route to the other side of the stage.

  – What are you doing?  – Looking for a control room. Here! – he announced as he felt his hand touch a doorknob. Luckily, he didn't need a key to open the door. – If this really is a control room, we'll be able to turn on all the lights.  – Be careful, Gabe!

  The boy didn't answer. Just like before, he crept along the walls until he found something different. Sure enough, there was the control panel. Now Gabriel just had to find out which button did what.

  – I can't see very well, but it looks like there are a lot of buttons here.  – Try pressing them all.

  And so he did. Only one of the three rows of lights on the ceiling went on, in addition to the lamps at the base and back of the stage. It was safe to assume that many of the buttons didn't work, which meant that the place was old, perhaps even abandoned.

  – This isn't the pizzeria – Gabriel commented as he left the room. – Wow.

  The boy stopped and looked at the stage in front of him. More specifically, at the attraction that rested on it.

  – I thought they were destroyed.  – Who's that? – Cassie asked.  – I don't remember the name, it's been a long time since that place closed. I didn't even remember about it anymore.  – You know where we are?  – Maybe.  – What do you mean? If you know, tell me.  – It's an old Fazbear's pizzeria. It was on the other side of town for those who lived too far away to go to Freddy's.  – What happened to it?  – An accident with one of the robots, I think. That's what I heard. They decided to close the place down a few days later because of that.  – Why are we here?  – Someone brought us in here. It must be the same someone who somehow put us back in our bodies.  – No, that person didn't just do that. You look older.  – And you sound older. How long has it been?

  It was obvious that Cassidy didn't have the answer.  Gabriel shrugged and walked over to a door, hoping it would be a way out. He felt it give in a little, but it seemed to be stuck. Time really hadn't done it any good. With a little more force, Gabe managed to open it all the way.

  – Gabie? – Fritz asked, surprised by the presence of the youngest. The noises from the door were what made him and the others inside the room get up and grab robotic parts to use as weapons, since they didn't know it was Gabriel who was on the other side.

  – Fritz! – Gabriel exclaimed, running to his friend.

  Fritz quickly dropped his "weapon" and also ran to Gabriel, hugging him as if it was the first time in years they had done so, which could easily be the case.

  – Susie, Jerry! – as soon as he separated the hug from Fritz, Gabe went to the other two and hugged them too, but it was a much quicker hug than the previous one.  – You've changed a lot, Gabe – Susie mentioned.  – Yeah, we're still trying to figure out why we're so different.  – How are we going to get out of here? – Cassie asked impatiently as she approached the room.  – The plan is...

  When the brown-haired boy began to speak, the group heard footsteps echoing through the place. Cassie entered the room instinctively, being the only one still outside. They closed the door just enough so that whoever was on the other side couldn't see them, but still left it a small crack so that the opposite was possible.

  – Are you sure you want to keep trying? It's been a year and a half and none of them have woken up – a female voice asked.  – Yes, I owe them that – another voice replied, this time a male one.

  – A year and a half...? – Fritz asked himself.

  The mere thought of having lost a good chunk of his adolescence left him perplexed. Bewildered, even. Not only him, but the other four shared the same feeling.  The redhead slowly stood up, staggering a little as he stood completely.

  – Fritz, what are you doing? – Gabe asked, being sit on the floor right behind the other boy. When he saw Fritz put his hand on the doorknob, he felt even more alarmed. – Fritz, no!  – You're lying.  – Fritz?! – the unknown boy asked, unable to contain his excitement. His lips quickly formed a wide smile.  – Who are you?! – Gabriel asked, pulling Fritz back and standing in front of him. His fists were ready to attack either of them.  – Don't you recognize us? Charlie and I, Michael.  – It's been almost two years, Mike. A lot has changed on us. You've even grown a little beard.  – Y-you're lying, you have to be! – Gabe exclaimed, now frustrated with the realization that all that time had really passed.  – Gabriel, calm down – Charlie walked over as he saw the boy almost fall to the ground as he began to cry.

  She grabbed his arms to keep him upright, but when she looked forward, she saw that Fritz had also started to tear up. The redhead kept his arms crossed and a fist over his mouth, biting his thumb as a tactic to control his crying.

  – I-I lost two years of my life?! I'm a f-fucking teenager already and I-I didn't even get to enjoy the f-few years before this happened! – Gabriel had already separated from Charlie and jumped into Fritz's arms by this point.  – H-how did you do that? – Jeremy asked, tears also streaming down his eyes. Right behind him came Cassie and Susie.  – Henry did it all. I don't know how, but he did it – Mike replied, letting out a heavy sigh. He put his hands on his hips and spoke again, looking away to the floor. – Look, I can't even imagine what it would feel like to discover that I've lost almost two years of my life, but you need to look beyond that. You're alive! You can live much longer than if you stayed trapped in the robots! Now come on, we're going to get you out of here.

  Michael was right. They would soon be reunited with their families, so perhaps losing a year and a half wasn't such a high price to pay for this second chance at life.