~one week later~
Y/N's POV
So far, it's been about a week since I found that...thing in the basement. Which still haunts me to this day. I mean, I know that it's supposed to be a surprise for my mom, but really, is she going to even remember going to that old restaurant? And what are we gonna do with it once the surprise is over? Just let it rot in our house?
I didn't even realize I was so deep in thought over this that I'd strayed completely from my task. On top of my lap was my laptop (lol) and the nearly completed report that was due in a few days. I was laying down in bed, enjoying the quiet. It was Friday night, the 11th of April, and my brother was invited to his friend's birthday sleepover. So he'd be gone for a while. My parents dropped him off way earlier, so the only reason why I was home alone was they agreed to have a date night while I stayed to work on my essay and just get it over with for the weekend. Which I would be completely fine with...if there wasn't a creepy robot bear down the hall and only a few stairs down. Which made me wonder how my dad was able to keep even Cody out of that room.
After about half an hour of typing, my fingers finally got too tired and I decided to take a break. I went into the kitchen and poured a glass of milk. However, I almost lunged forward at the sudden sound of a large creak. It was normal for the floor to creak because of the wind and loose boards, but this wasn't one of those. It was loud. And it was coming from the basement.
What, are you afraid of inanimate objects now? I scolded myself. What's wrong with being scared? Another side defended. Oh come on, it's been in the house for a week now, and it hasn't done anything. Not yet. What if it's waiting to strike? I AM home alone this time! You know what, if you're so scared, why don't you just go down there and dismantle that thing while you have the chance?! Or just to see for yourself that you're just being being paranoid! Oh, hey, good idea!
I stopped halfway down the stairs to the basement. In my hands was a large crowbar. It felt like I spaced out for a while there, I really wasn't thinking over my decisions was I? And I didn't remember how I got a crowbar, or why I knew where it was. Also, why do we have a crowbar in our house?
For self defense, maybe, if we aren't doing any engineering....might need both tonight. I made my way down the stairs and finally, stopped in front of the withered animatronic.
Creeppyyy....!
I physically and mentally winced at the sight of the old thing. Up close, now that I wasn't terrified out of my mind (well, I was still scared) I could see that the bear was missing it's right hand, replaces with a..stump? Maybe it was missing some kind of slip-on attachment or something. I held the crowbar up. So small and useless against something that size. The bear looked like it might be 7 feet, maybe more, and it was big enough to fit an entire person inside of it if it were able to. I started to reconsider coming down here. I mean, the whole confronting your fears was a good excuse, but totally dismantling it??
First of all, that was an idiotic thought.
Second of all, how are you going to do that.
Third of all, how are your parents not going to find out it was you.
Mental facepalm.
I sat down on the bottom stair and studied the animatronic, figuring I could just finish my report later tonight or tomorrow morning. I looked at each dent and puncture in its metal. It actually looked kind of fluffy up close. Like an actual bear. I came across strange lines that seemed to divide its face. One going down the middle of his forehead and muzzle, one going completely down from his chin, and the others splitting his rosy cheeks from his jawline.
Assuming it was a "he". At least, it looked more like a "he" than a "she". Out of curiosity, I stepped closer to the bear. Each step forward was more fear conquered of this thing (one step for Y/N, one leap for Y/N's mentality...I'm sorry I just had to XD). I let my finger trace along the rust, outlining the slits so they were more visible. What an...interesting design choice for a kids' entertainer. Unless the rumors were true and they really were designed to kill...
I immediately shut out the thought. I was this close to the animatronic, and I didn't need that traveling around my brain. I backed up a bit, an uncomfortable feeling tingling up my spine. I thought back a bit—whether I liked it or not, this thing creeped me out. And whether I liked it or not, I was stuck with it for a while and would be home alone with it.
I remembered an old habit of when something would scare me when I was younger. Like a creepy looking doll or something. I would....talk to it. Like it was alive. It sounded stupid, but it worked when I was younger. So....hey, at least no one's home to hear me.
"Um.......hi?" I said. "My n-name's Y/N. I live here. Down the hall. With my mom, dad, and little brother Cody. Um....I'm 19 years old and I go to ( school name). I like to play soccer, even though I've never really played since I was 10. Me and my friend Dorothy are into volleyball right now. I like to watch the game though I don't have the slightest clue on how to pass the ball. We sometimes have marathons of Haikyuu together on the weekends. It's an anime about volleyball. Sometimes we'll just end up rewatching an entire season. We're on the third one right now. Her parents are clueless to the show because they hate sports. Their family thinks they're a waste of time and try to get their kids to believe that, but that's when I come in!"
I chuckled. I was getting comfortable talking out loud about myself. In front of a robot bear. Meh, I've seen weirder. So I went on and on about Dorothy and life at school. The things I loved and the things I hated. Practically my life story. Haha.
I caught myself talking about an old friend of mine, Lyla. "Lyla, she...she went missing a couple years ago. She was the best friend I'd ever had, besides Dorothy....Unlike the two of us, she really liked to read. I'm more into drawing and she never got into it because she thought she wasn't as good. I mean, with practice you get better eventually, right? I remember this one time...when me, her and Dorothy would always go to the school carnival. It was great. We played in the bounce castles, went on these really high blow up slides-they're basically bounce castles-and we snacked on cupcakes and popcorn and cotton candy till we were stuffed.
There's this memory in particular, not much before she supposedly died...when we went together for the last time, not knowing it would be the last. But we still went like it was. We hugged each other goodbye and drove off with our own families. I don't know about them, but I fell asleep in the car almost immediately." I let myself smile, thinking of all those good times we had together.
But they were gone.
We would never go back to that same experience.
It just wasn't the same.
Wasn't the same without Lyla complaining about her stomach ache or that we'll have too much sugar.
I closed my eyes and a tear slipped down my cheek.
"Aww-ww, don't cry, cupcake!" My eyes snapped open. Fear suddenly overtook me, the tears brimming in my eyes halted. The bear was staring right at me, his eyes boring through mine. The sadistic grin plastered on his face seemed all too real now. The bear's jaw stopped moving by the time I looked up at him. "Someone like you shouldn't be crying so much over a mere memory~"
I didn't need to see his jaw move to know it was him speaking. My feet didn't hesitate any longer. I screamed and strode away from the bear, but as soon as my foot could reach the first stair, I was yanked back by the collar of my shirt. I quickly gasped for breath as I was held back by the bear.
"NO!! LET GO OF ME!!" I screamed out the best I could. "HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!! ANY-" I was abruptly turned around and my face planted in the bear's chest, muffling my yelling. His grip on me was too strong for me to break out of.
"Hehe, you aren't getting away from me that easy, lamb chop~" I yelled out in pure rage, despite having my voice muffled. I started to kick against the animatronic as hard as I could. "Shhh.....quiet, now. We have a lot more to talk about~" I didn't know why, but there was something in his voice that last time that made my eyes start to drift shut against my will. Before I could ask what he meant by that, my vision completely blacked out.
..sorry if this was kinda crappy. And five days since my last update..
Good news is I already have another chapter ready to go so I'll be updating this thing twice tomorrow morning. Until then good night/morning/afternoon whatever timezone you guys are in! 😁