Alone With Them

Chapter 21

She had to get out of here.

Cathryn scrambled to rise from the ground, her knees clacking together, as she hurried for the exit on her left. The one farthest from the demonic rabbit. She barely made it a foot before she felt fingers covered in fake fur grip her arm.

"No!" Cathryn screamed, squirming frantically against his hold.

Bonnie dragged her back into the center of the office, throwing her towards her desk. Her stomach made impact, and the force was enough to scatter stacked piles of paper.

Cathryn couldn't breathe as she spun around to see Bonnie leaning over her. She moved to escape again, but the rabbit dropped forward and gripped both sides of the desk around her with his hands, effectively trapping her.

"Stop!" she shouted, hoping maybe Freddy would somehow hear and come to her rescue. He would save her. If only to force her to do more dangerous tasks. Cathryn tried to kick Bonnie's shin, but it only ended up making her wince.

"What's wrong?" the rabbit asked, a dark tone to his voice. Cathryn had never seen his aggravating smile up close. Now he was less than a foot away.

"Go away!"

"Why should I?"

She hated his proximity. "Don't touch me!" she warned.

Bonnie's eyes flickered, and Cathryn was shocked when he pushed himself away from the desk and took three steps back. His laughter quietly returned. "You know you can't leave."

Cathryn blinked. She forced her lungs to start working again and balled her hands into fists, puffing out her chest. "The restaurant?"

"That too."

Her vision crossed from one side of the office to the other. "The room?"

Bonnie didn't bother to nod. He only smiled, and despite being a robot, somehow the expression in his eyes almost seemed knowing. And cocky, like he was mocking her for not understanding what was going on.

"Why can you talk?"

"I could always talk."

"Then why haven't you?"

"You know, you're not in a position to be pressing for answers," he murmured in a tone that resembled mischief. Cathryn could tell it was a threat, but like everything else about Bonnie, he didn't seem to treat it that way. Just like how he danced across the cameras and grinned at her, he acted as if the whole thing was a game.

Cathryn turned her head away to stare at the wall. At least he hadn't already mauled her, but why was he here? "You're not on stage." She struggled to make it sound like an observation and not an angry huff.

"Nope." When he didn't say anything else, Cathryn forced herself towards her spinning chair.

She glanced back; she didn't have the nerve to look away from him and his bright, magenta gaze. But her legs no longer had the strength to keep her standing. Cathryn dropped into her seat, her knees thankful.

Every instinct was telling her to wait for Bonnie to go away, but the way he stood in the center of the room, almost leaned back into his stance in a casual way, made her doubt he would leave without force. Cathryn steadied her voice. "Where's Freddy?" The bear seemed to be the most reasonable animatronic that had spoken. Maybe he would bother to explain more.

Bonnie stiffly shrugged, like it wasn't a motion he often did. The contrast to how normal he treated the action was noticeable. "Why should I answer?"

"Because . . ." Cathryn had to reassure herself that talking to Bonnie in general was a good idea before continuing, ". . . I fixed you."