Animatronic Eyes

The next morning, the sun lit my room up. I laid in bed for a little after checking the time. I had an half hour before I even needed to get up, and I cherised it. I didn't allow my mind to wander, to think about and stress for the missing boy. I let it remained clouded with sleep and unconcious joy. I dazed back and fourth and dreamed of the light warming my lids and enlightening me. I dreampt that it was summer and I could get out of this bed and put on some shorts and a tank top without getting chicken skin. That I could go down to the pool with my parents and sister, and hang out at the creek fishing with Jack. That I could simply laze around in the porch furniture in the backyard, reading an old novel and listening to the birds sing.

That sounded glorious, and I was tempted. But I knew well enough that there was work to do. I needed to get up and get going. I was excused of school for the rest of the week, which was a plus. But it didn't really make up for what I still had to do today.

I assumed Mr. Miller turned off the animatronics yesterday. Maybe that's what I'd heard last night in the pizzeria. They were still milling about, waiting for someone to give them orders. They bumped into walls and said the same things and did the same things at timed intervals. Which would explain the laughter, footsteps and other bizarre things. But what about the voices? I still hadn't fully convinced myself it'd happened. Maybe it was just like how I told Jess: I felt like I was going to pass out, I was tired and freaking out. So overactive imaginations are a side effect of exhaustion.

I didn't think I was all that tired yesterday. Other than my feet being sore from walking around all day. I felt fine now, maybe even looking forward to going to work today. Why? I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to talk to Jess again. She'd been the most friendly face. Though they'd all been nice, I felt a little more on the same page with the girl that Blake had described as 'theatrical'.

Within the following fifteen minutes, mom paused outside my door to knock. "Honey, are you awake?"

I nodded, and yawned. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes, then reached for my phone to check the time again. It was early, seven-thirty.

"Not to through you off of your working ways, but why are you staying more than the one day?" She wondered in confusion. I wasn't really sure myself, I mean I'd done it mostly for Jack. But some part of me also had wanted to stay, too.

My sigh became weak laughter "It's a bit of a long story. Jack got a crush on one of the girls working there and wanted her number, and asked if I'd stay longer."

She laughed "I wasn't expecting that kind of answer, but ok. Well... You must be pretty good friends to stay in a place like that."

I nodded too. But really, my mind was elsewhere. "Yeah, we are."

"Well you'd better get ready, when should you be home?"

"Five-ish..." I said, usually it was an assorted time. I'd be working longer tonight though.

She nodded and walked on. I got up and showered, got dressed and dried my hair. Tied it up in a ponytail and put on minor makeup to hide the sleepless nights, then I gathered my laptop and other school related things and put them into my backpack. I grabbed my black My Chemical Romance sweatshirt out of my closet and pulled it down over my head nad tied my converse.

It was almost eight. I got a granola bar from the kitchen and called out a goodbye into the presumably empty house and I went out to my car. I turned up the radio, rolled down the window and backed out of the drive way and went to work.

I was a little amazed at myself how I was calling this volunteer work work. The way someone does when they actually consider it apart of their lives.

The building was the same as it was the last few days. I parked a few spaces from the front door, next to Jack's car.

I walked slowly up the sidewalk, and pulled open the front door. I wasn't even completely in the store when I was ambushed by a lithe little figure with purple and blonde hair. She was grinning, which was a first.

"Guess what?"

"What?" I responded warily.

"Foxy's fixed! He's my favorite." She pointed towards the doorway that led into Pirate's Cove.

This, hit me pretty hard. Foxy, the first and only time I'd seen him, he'd grinned at me with his sharp teeth and glowing eyes, speaking with his glitching soundbox. I heard him now, his volume lowering and hightening as though someone was currently turning the knob up and down.

"Dun dun dun dun dun." He sang in a piratey voice.

I resisted the urge to wince or run out. "That's cool... I thought he was broken? Cyrus said the day I came here, he was in the morgue."

Jess shrugged. "Mr. Miller was fiddling with his AI settings this morning, kinda pissed off after the repair man he hired said the animatronic was done for and that we should just throw him out. And then he started singing and Mr. Miller has been working on him since."

I noticed it now, the dun dun dun song Foxy sang was on loop and he didn't sound like he was going to be stopping anytime soon.

"Ok..." I said mostly to myself in an almost calming way. "Well, what do we need to do?"

"We'll clean the tables before opening." She said, walking off to get the supplies. Jess acted happier today, a bit of her theatrical-ness was back, or maybe that's just what I saw. For all I know, she could still be angry at the world today.

"Oh, goody..." Cyrus muttered as she walked by me. "Mr. Miller has almost finished fixing up that creepy rag doll..."

"You don't like Foxy, either?" I asked her.

She stopped walking and looked at me, swiping at the green bangs hanging in her eyes. "I don't like him, I don't love him, he disturbs me in every possible way and I've never enjoyed this job more than during the time he was broken down. How's your morning been?"

"Well to be honest... It was going pretty good until I heard that there'd be a fourth animatronic." I admitted, slinging my strap across my shoulder.

She nodded and smiled wryly. "I get where you're coming from. Hey, I got to go help Jack wake the animatronics, I'll see you around, ok?"

I waved her off and went to the break room to ditch my school bag. Checking the time on my phone before getting my apron and putting it on. Jess had already begun scrubbing down tables, filling napkind holders and salt and pepper shakers when I entered the main dining room.

I went to help her, but a few minutes in, she spoke up.

"I'm sorry if I overreacted last night..." She admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. "my mind just started racing and jumping to conclusions, I'm sorry if I freaked you out."

I shook my head and laughed. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. Little mystery and adventure never hurt anyone working at a pizza parlor."

She glanced at me warily, then laughed, too. "I'm just worried, that's all... Anyways, I was going to ask you, I'm going to go shopping tonight with Cyrus, do you and Jack want to come? We kinda planned it as like, a distraction type thing."

"Ok, what time?"

"We'll leave here at six, Mr. Miller says we'll be off by then."

"Alright, let's do it."

"Ms. Hunter?"

I looked over my shoulder, and surprisingly enough, there was Mr. Miller. His hands were tucked into his pockets and he eyed me in the way a rich parent does when they finally have to dicipline their child.

"Yeah, Mr. Miller?"

"Can I see you in my office?"

"Of course..." I nodded, wringing out the rag and setting it on the tabletop, glancing over at Jess before turning and following him.

We walked with such a dreaded pace, maybe he didn't want to do this as much as I did. I was concerned, was I in trouble? If so, for what? I hadn't done anything.

He waited until he was fully seated behind his long wooden desk, then gestured for me to sit across from him before he even began talking. He cleared his throat, took a long drink of a foam cup of cold coffee on his desk before folding his arms atop the wood and looking at me expectantly.

"Why were you here last night?"

Oh...

"Er, I was..."

"Before you try to excuse yourself, allow me to show you how I know."

He reached down onto the desk and lifted a tablet, like an outdated iPad. He tapped through some things on screen, then turned it to me, pushing play, it was a picture of the mirror ceilinged party hall. One of the camera's I hadn't seen caught me walking out of a hallway and ducking beneath it into another. Obviously, it was me. No one else would be stupid enough to break in at night. It looked like me, too. My blonde hair was falling out of it's ponytail and hung around my face as I moved in suspicious stealth.

Crap...

"The truth?" He inquired, pushing his glasses further up on his skinny nose.

I could tell the truth, like he was wanting, or I could lie. And that could get me into all kinds of trouble.

"I was... Here last night with Jess... She forgot her phone in her locker." I fibbed. It was a partial truth. I just didn't feel Mr. Miller needed to know about our private investigation.

"And why were you ducking around like a ninja?" He asked blankly.

It'd be hilarious and sad, but I gave it my best go. "When I was a kid, Mr. Miller. I was really into Ninjas, and so it never really wore off, I guess. I've never gotten to be in a building other than my house after dark, so I took advantage of it." I shrugged. My face flared pink. It was the biggest lie. I never like ninjas. Dawn did, but I didn't.

Mr. Miller considered this for a moment. Maybe he didn't believe me, but either way, he burst out laughing. "Fair enough!" He said grinning. "sorry for accusing you."

I nodded and forced a weak laugh too. Thanks for beliving it.

Jess talked to me whenever she could. Neither of us had really come up with any good theories regarding Blake. So we discussed the shopping trip planned for that night. Jack agreed to go in a heartbeat when I told him Cyrus was going. For a little bit I figured that it'd be nice to get away for a few hours, but it was hard keeping my mind in one place when I noticed the animatronics. They were acting differently, most noticibly, Foxy. He acted differently than the others, he seemed to follow Jess, his metal mouth clamping as though choking on words. He'd walk away and hang out in Pirate Cove. Maybe that was his normal behavior? It was hard to tell.

Throughout the day, I encountered Mr. Miller a few more times. It was odd that I almost never crossed paths with Jack during the day, but really it wasn't any reason to worry.

"Decsi, I need you to grab a star head screw driver from the animatronic's studio and take it to Mr. M." Cyrus called to me as she entered the kitchen juggling a tray of dishes. I nodded and wiped my hands on a paper towel and pushed open the swinging door and went towards the west hallway.

The animatronic's studio was on the left side of the hallway, today the door was fully shut. I turned the handle and pushed it open, flicking on the light. It was a lot easier to be in that room when the animatronics weren't there.

"Ok... Where is the toolbox?"

I looked along the shelves and cupboards in the back of the room, then something caught my attention. I couldn't tell if it smelled sweet or bitter, but I smelled it. I turned around and sniffed, but whatever it was was gone.

I took a deep breath, and exhaled it through my mouth, I shook it off. "It's nothing." I muttered, yanking open the bottom cupboard and finding the toolbox on the bottom shelf. I rummaged around and found the star head screwdriver. I didn't try to figure it out as I flipped off the light and exited the room. I just didn't want to, I wanted to turn it all off.