Tom's: Five Nights at Freddy's

    After rolling around in bed for four hours, unable to fall asleep, Mike looked at the alarm clock. It was finally nearing 11:30. He could hear Cory continue to mix sounds on turntables in the living room. This racket was why he couldn't fall asleep but Cory was generous enough to let him live here for free, so Mike didn't complain. He disabled his alarm before it could go off and got out of bed. He was coated in a light layer of sweat. He opened the window and let the cool autumn night air in. He wished he had done that before trying to sleep but it was too late now. He took a clean outfit with him to the bathroom, showered, and changed. When he got out, Cory was still mixing sounds on the couch.

    "Have you come up with a name yet?" Mike asked as he made a bowl of cereal.

     "I don't know, I'm thinking 'exotic' something - maybe 'Cory Exotic'?" Mike shook his head, laughing.

    "That's stupid," he moved his arm to grab a spoon and accidentally knocked a box off the table. Two wrapped sticks of butter fell out, "shit," he muttered. Mike bent down to pick up the butter and shuffled the sticks back into the box.

    "I got it!" Cory chimed, "Exotic Butters!" Mike shrugged, still thinking this was a dumb name. Though he knew he couldn't come up with anything better. They discussed this briefly as Mike finished his cereal. When he tossed the empty paper bowl into the trash can, he noticed garbage was now overflowing. He sighed, knowing what he had to do. Mike pulled out the two ends of the bag. He tied them together and yanked it out of the can. He looked at the oven, which had a clock on it, and noticed it was now time for him to leave.

    "I'm gonna take out the trash on the way out," he noted. Cory nodded. Mike lifted the heavy bag out of the room. He silently made his way downstairs and to the alleyway between apartment buildings where the dumpsters were all lined up. It was so cold outside that Mike could see his own breath. He opened the dumpster lid. The foul smell of garbage blasted him. He immediately threw the bag in and closed it, facing away from the dumpster. When he got to his car, he slouched against the leather seat, wanting to close his eyes and pass out. He had gone without sleep for 24 hours. With 5 hours ahead of him at Freddy's and 8 hours at the warehouse, he was already beyond exhausted.

    "No, I have a job to do," Mike chided himself. He started his car and floored it out of the parking lot. He tried to drive as carefully as possible, knowing how sleep-deprived he was. Once he made it to Freddy's, he accidentally parked in the disability spot. He only realized this upon getting out and was too tired to re-park. Being an employee of the place, he knew he wouldn't receive any punishment for it - a slap on the wrist at best.

    Mike opened the door and walked into his office. He looked at the camera facing the show stage. The animatronics were all standing still. He clicked the Pirate's Cove camera key. Foxy was standing just behind the curtains, peeking one of his eyes out through. A second after Mike clicked on this camera, Foxy immediately moved back and the curtain he was holding open fell closed. As Mike closely looked at the screen, the phone rang. He was expecting it but it still made him jump a little. After just a few rings, the message rolled;

    "Hello, hello?" The man on the phone seemed to have the same intro for every call, repeating 'hello' as if he couldn't tell if the recorder was on. Mike found it annoying, "Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long. I mean, you know, they usually move on to other things by now. I'm not implying that they died. Th-th-that's not what I meant. Uh, anyway I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight," the way the phone-guy said this made Mike stop and think.

    "Getting real?" Mike asked himself, "what is that supposed to mean?"

    "Uh... Hey, listen, I had an idea;" The phone-guy continued, "if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uh, try playing dead, y'know, go limp. Then there's a chance that, uh, maybe they'll think that you're an empty costume instead. Then again if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to... stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work... Yeah, nevermind, scratch that. It's best just not to get caught. Um... Okay, I'll leave you to it. See you on the flip side!"

    "Well that was informative," Mike thought sarcastically, "no wonder most people don't last this long. This place is weird," He sat back in his chair and let out a disappointment-filled sigh. He watched the cameras, waiting for things to happen. No one moved for a while. A little less than an hour into his shift, Mike remembered the red button Peter had pressed earlier that day to activate the animatronics. He recalled the idea he thought of back then - that if he pressed the button, it might turn the animatronics to day-mode and, therefore, they wouldn't hurt him. He perked up and started searching the camera for this button to make sure it was where he remembered. Sure enough, it was just at the end of the left hall straight from his office to the show stage room. Mike stood up and turned on the left door light, "do I really wanna do this?" he asked, peering down the corridor.

    He turned off the light, knowing it might attract any animatronics that could be near. With a sudden burst of confidence, he raced into the hall, tiptoeing to the end. He made sure to look around at every passing area. The button was now just in front of him. He glanced around. The robotic mascots were blocked by the closed curtains and none of them had come off the stage yet. He glanced at Pirate's Cove, which was within the same room. Not a single sound resounded through the building. So in one swift motion, Mike pushed the button.

    Suddenly, two loud thuds sounded out. A rusty carousel in the corner of the room turned on and started spinning. Circus music played. The classical song sounded happy and cheerful. The curtains immediately opened electronically, slamming to the sides of the stage. The robots were now visible. They all began twitching violently. Mike watched nervously as the scanners in their eyes turned on. Their eyes were now glowing. Freddy's head jerked and spasmed around but his eyes stayed locked onto Mike's. Loud electronic noises started playing on the speakers and the colorful lights were moving around quickly.

    The carousel spun faster and faster, lighting up as the tune of the music became faster as well. An electric popping noise sounded out and the carousel turned off completely. The animatronics stopped twitching. The lights all turned off and the curtain swung back down into place. The room was as dark as usual. The sudden noises and erratic behavior of the robots made every hair on Mike's body stand up. He turned around and sprinted back to the office. He frantically checked all the cameras repeatedly. He closed both doors and sat in silence. His thoughts raced as his breathing remained rapid. He kept looking in all directions to make sure nothing was outside his office. Seeing the animatronics glitch, watching the robotic bear stare into his soul, and hearing the happy music get more intense, deeply unsettled him.

    Mike glanced at the power meter. With both doors down, electricity was running out fast. Therefore, Mike let the monitor go into sleep mode. He sat in silence trying to process everything he just saw. The scene made him uneasy. After many minutes of anxious boredom, he shook the mouse to check the cameras again. He was already down 50% of the power. The animatronics hadn't moved. He checked Pirate's Cove. Nothing. Upon seeing nothing else as crazy happen, Mike became relieved. He figured pressing the button must have reset them. This plan had worked. Now, they wouldn't come for him. His heart started beating regularly again and he began to calm down. Everything in the vicinity stood still. Mike rested his head against the table, now extra tired from worrying.

    Without thinking for much longer, Mike closed his eyes with both doors shut...