Status: Don't read after dark... That's when they get you
Animatronic Eyes
Absence
It went similar to how yesterday had: Cyrus walked towards us, her green bangs swept aside her heart shaped face, the longer layers in the back tied back into a ponytail, she chewed a wad of gum obnoxiously while she waited for Jack to join her, then Jess came for me and we did our first pre-job job.
We walked around the building, making sure everything was in order before opening. I was more relieved than I should have been when Jess told me nonchalantly that we're not in charge or checking the animatronics, that normally Blake does it, and that she'd rather not do it anyways. I couldn't have agreed more.
We turned the last corner and walked into the kitchen through the back door, then we went towards the party dining hall. Everything was normal, in it's place, until I realized one thing that was missing.
"Hey Jess, where's Blake? We haven't seen him yet."
It was true, we'd been through almost every building in the room twice, some a third time to either back-track or to double check. I would have thought that we would have crossed paths with him by now, wherever he was.
Jess seemed in deep thought and she paused and snapped out of it. She looked around us, we stood in the middle of the party hall, our reflections standing above us on the mirrored ceiling. I could see the concern on Jess's hidden face as she spun around.
"Uh, I don't know actually, now that you mention it, I haven't seen him all morning, either. I've been here for a half hour."
"Is it possible that he's maybe taking a sick day or something?" I wondered as we began to walk again, with more urgency now.
"Could be, but it seems unlikely. He was totally fine yesterday. But who knows?"
We wound up in a small room. It was lined with rusting blue lockers on on wall, caked in peeling stickers and graffiti from ex-employees. There were two doors side by side to my right, men and women's wash rooms. Jess walked towards the locker right in the middle and spun the dial and yanked the door open, rifling through her dark green book bag inside and producing a small iPhone.
She scrolled through some menus on the touch screen. "He hasn't called." She stated.
"Why not try calling him?" I suggested, and she nodded in agreement and began typing in his number, then she held it to her ear. Tapping her neon pink nails anxiously against her Hello Kitty phone case.
Then she groaned in frustration and looked down at the screen. "He didn't pick up. It just rang."
"Is it unusal for him not to answer?" I wondered.
She nodded "Very. No matter what he's doing, he always answers, unless he's lost his phone, which in unlikely because he's such a clean freak, it'd be impossible for him to loose anything."
She paused and stared down at her screen, then clicked it off and tossed it back inside her locker and shut it, putting on a smile and shrugging. "Eh, it's no big deal right now. You need to get ready, we open in three."
I nodded and got my borrowed black apron and fastened it around my waist, then followed Jess into the main dining hall to begin the day.
{}{}{}
The day felt longer than it actually was. We were one hour into the work, me and Jack only had to stay until two, but truth be told, I wanted to stay longer to see if we'd hear anything from or about Blake. But it didn't seem to come.
Jess handled Pirate Cove and arcade traffic, she took care of the families dining there. Cyrus and Jack banned up together again today and they controled the party hall. I had the main dining hall all to myself, and that was no easy task, but it was still easier than yesterday because today was Monday and half the little munchkins running through the doors were either too young for school or didn't care.
After a while, the work fried my brain to a point when I no longer had to think about something sneaking up behind me and fabricating out of thin air. But then after a while I noticed something else missing.
The animatronics.
I felt my blood freeze in my veins. I hadn't seen any of them once, where were they? I spun around and looked, but they weren't on stage. Then I remembered what Jess had said yesterday about them.
They prefer Blake to deal with them: Turn them on, direct them, put them into sleep mode and tell them what song to sing. Maybe because Blake wasn't there today, no one bothered turning them on, and now that I think of it, Jess pretty much entitled that it was Blake's unofficial job to do it. Maybe that's why no one did.
Either way, I needed to know they were in the building, at least. I knew were they were kept, I'd seen Blake in there once, turning them on and checking their boxes to make sure everything was working.
I looked around the dining room to make sure no one needed anything at the immediate moment, then I walked towards the hallway at the other end of the room, when I stepped out of everyone's line of sight, I warily approached the doorway to the animatronics studio. The door was shut, but as I approached, I realized that it wasn't shut. It was propped open slightly.
I paused and looked around myself, took a deep breath and reached forward to push the door open.
We walked around the building, making sure everything was in order before opening. I was more relieved than I should have been when Jess told me nonchalantly that we're not in charge or checking the animatronics, that normally Blake does it, and that she'd rather not do it anyways. I couldn't have agreed more.
We turned the last corner and walked into the kitchen through the back door, then we went towards the party dining hall. Everything was normal, in it's place, until I realized one thing that was missing.
"Hey Jess, where's Blake? We haven't seen him yet."
It was true, we'd been through almost every building in the room twice, some a third time to either back-track or to double check. I would have thought that we would have crossed paths with him by now, wherever he was.
Jess seemed in deep thought and she paused and snapped out of it. She looked around us, we stood in the middle of the party hall, our reflections standing above us on the mirrored ceiling. I could see the concern on Jess's hidden face as she spun around.
"Uh, I don't know actually, now that you mention it, I haven't seen him all morning, either. I've been here for a half hour."
"Is it possible that he's maybe taking a sick day or something?" I wondered as we began to walk again, with more urgency now.
"Could be, but it seems unlikely. He was totally fine yesterday. But who knows?"
We wound up in a small room. It was lined with rusting blue lockers on on wall, caked in peeling stickers and graffiti from ex-employees. There were two doors side by side to my right, men and women's wash rooms. Jess walked towards the locker right in the middle and spun the dial and yanked the door open, rifling through her dark green book bag inside and producing a small iPhone.
She scrolled through some menus on the touch screen. "He hasn't called." She stated.
"Why not try calling him?" I suggested, and she nodded in agreement and began typing in his number, then she held it to her ear. Tapping her neon pink nails anxiously against her Hello Kitty phone case.
Then she groaned in frustration and looked down at the screen. "He didn't pick up. It just rang."
"Is it unusal for him not to answer?" I wondered.
She nodded "Very. No matter what he's doing, he always answers, unless he's lost his phone, which in unlikely because he's such a clean freak, it'd be impossible for him to loose anything."
She paused and stared down at her screen, then clicked it off and tossed it back inside her locker and shut it, putting on a smile and shrugging. "Eh, it's no big deal right now. You need to get ready, we open in three."
I nodded and got my borrowed black apron and fastened it around my waist, then followed Jess into the main dining hall to begin the day.
{}{}{}
The day felt longer than it actually was. We were one hour into the work, me and Jack only had to stay until two, but truth be told, I wanted to stay longer to see if we'd hear anything from or about Blake. But it didn't seem to come.
Jess handled Pirate Cove and arcade traffic, she took care of the families dining there. Cyrus and Jack banned up together again today and they controled the party hall. I had the main dining hall all to myself, and that was no easy task, but it was still easier than yesterday because today was Monday and half the little munchkins running through the doors were either too young for school or didn't care.
After a while, the work fried my brain to a point when I no longer had to think about something sneaking up behind me and fabricating out of thin air. But then after a while I noticed something else missing.
The animatronics.
I felt my blood freeze in my veins. I hadn't seen any of them once, where were they? I spun around and looked, but they weren't on stage. Then I remembered what Jess had said yesterday about them.
They prefer Blake to deal with them: Turn them on, direct them, put them into sleep mode and tell them what song to sing. Maybe because Blake wasn't there today, no one bothered turning them on, and now that I think of it, Jess pretty much entitled that it was Blake's unofficial job to do it. Maybe that's why no one did.
Either way, I needed to know they were in the building, at least. I knew were they were kept, I'd seen Blake in there once, turning them on and checking their boxes to make sure everything was working.
I looked around the dining room to make sure no one needed anything at the immediate moment, then I walked towards the hallway at the other end of the room, when I stepped out of everyone's line of sight, I warily approached the doorway to the animatronics studio. The door was shut, but as I approached, I realized that it wasn't shut. It was propped open slightly.
I paused and looked around myself, took a deep breath and reached forward to push the door open.