William Afton stood a few feet behind me with a chilling, unsettling smile. Something about him wasn't right. I stood up from crouching and faced him.
"Mr. Afton, we need to call the police--People have died here," I said firmly.
Afton laughed hysterically. He soon stopped, taking a deep breath.
"I have eyes, you know!" Afton replied. "Unfortunately, that won't be happening." He approached, ominous and silent. I retreated, unsure of Afton's intentions.
"You see, nobody has been able to find this place. Well, except you, of course." I felt something hard jab behind me. It was the table. I'm cornered. This didn't stop Afton as he continued.
"Which isn't surprising coming from you. However, I simply can't let this slip and get into the grimy hands of the authorities! So, I will make you a deal." Afton stopped a few inches in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"If we become partners, as fate intended, you can survive."
Afton's smile then faded into a cold expression. He drew his face closer to my ear.
"Or you could become one of them, and if I were you, I'd choose your words very, very carefully." Afton whispered. He pulled back to reveal a wicked smile.
I knew it. William Afton murdered innocent people. Innocent kids. Obviously, I couldn't fathom myself being "partners" with a serial killer. The mere thought of it sickens me to my core. I would NEVER do such a thing. I clenched my fist in anger.
"I'll never be part of your twisted game, you sick fuck," I spat. My remark wiped Afton's smile from his face.
"Fine. So be it." Afton said. He grabbed me by the collar of my vest and threw me to the wall behind him. The force of hitting the wall shattered my back into countless pieces.
I let out a wheeze as I rose to defend myself. Unfortunately, Afton kicked me in the stomach. I buckled to the ground, gripping my stomach in pain. With my stomach aching, I moaned as I lay on the ground.
"Now look what YOU made me do," Afton shouted. "I didn't want to do this—I really didn't." He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me into the room with the bloody floor and animatronics.
"I give people a chance, but they just want to FUCK me over." Afton kicked and stomped me several times in frustration. I curled up to protect myself as best as I could.
"I thought you were different this time, Mike. I believed that you and I would reconnect and get along again. Like father and son!" Afton yelled. "But no, no, no! You're still the same person you were years ago." He pulled my hair upwards, forcing me to face him.
"Michael Afton—the son of William Afton—still wants to defy his father!" Afton shouted, slamming me to the floor.
He's my father? No! It can't be!
"After all the hard work I have done for you. I enrolled you in Stanford, covered your tuition costs, and rigged your results. How much more ungrateful could you be?" I pushed myself back, trying to gain distance away from Afton.
"Then I try to give you a job, and you throw it away like it's nothing?!" I kept pushing back, but I soon felt an animatronic behind me. Afton got closer.
"But it's my fault. I should've finished you long ago. You gave me hope, Michael. But I don't think you and your brother could live in the same world--Not after what you've done." Afton reached into his purple suit, pulling out a knife.
"What exactly have I done? What did I do to deserve this?" I asked.
"You don't possess the memories, but deep down, you have the instincts. If you've killed your brother once, you'll do it again." Afton responded coldly.
"I don't understand... I don't understand any of this. Why am I being punished for something I have no memory of?" I cried out. He slowly walked towards me--Each step becoming more muffled.
"It's okay, my boy. Everything will be fine. It will be quick. This hurts me more than it hurts you."
"How could you do this to your own son? How could you be so unfair?"
"Life isn't fair. You should know by now," Afton replied. I began to hyperventilate again. My body trembled in fear as he came closer with deadly intent. Sweat dripped down my face. My heart pounded. I felt hopeless. Angry. Confused. Sad. All these emotions piled up from years of agony and torment.
Is this the feeling of death?
"What are you doing, Afton?" A voice called out. Behind William Afton was Henry, who stood near the door of the basement. Afton faced Henry. Henry wore a terrified face. A face filled with disgust and horror.
"This is none of your business, Henry. Go back upstairs." Afton replied harshly.
"You lied to me, Afton," Henry said coldly. "I thought you changed!"
"You really believed that? I just got better at hiding things."
"Clearly, you did not hide it well, since your son found it."
"Of course he did—he's my son." Henry's expression changed from disgust to anger.
"If he's your son, why are you trying to kill him?" Henry asked.
"You don't know anything about our family, Henry. It's none of your business!" Afton shouted. Henry remained unfazed by his comment.
"Whether I know or not doesn't matter to me, but I won't let you kill another innocent person." Afton laughed manically.
"And how do you plan on doing that? I have a knife, and you don't!" Afton said, laughing even more.
"I'll do everything in my power to stop you." Henry replied. Afton's smile faded into a scowl.
"Then, I guess you'll die with him." Afton dashed forward with his knife, aiming for Henry's rib area.
Henry dodged his attack in time and tackled Afton to the floor. Afton lost his grip on the knife, causing it to spin away from him.
Henry threw a few powerful punches at Afton before he could hit back in retaliation.
Despite Afton's attempts to overtake Henry, he was unsuccessful due to Henry's high-ground advantage.
"Get up, Michael—get out of here while you can!" Henry shouted, taking more hits from Afton. Both men exchanged blows, groaning through the pain on the blood-soaked tile floor.
"It won't matter—as soon as I finish with Henry, I'll hunt you down." Afton grumbled.
Without question, I got up from where I sat, wincing in pain. I limped my way to the door, never turning back.
***
Henry knew at some point that Afton would find a way to overtake him. He needed to buy some time for Michael to escape. Henry was sickened by the fact that this man was willing to kill his son. Questioning it angered Henry more.
Henry curled his fist to hit Afton with all the anger he could muster up. However, Afton pushed Henry's hand away from his face, forcing him to back off.
The two men stood up and faced each other—Both drenched in blood.
"Do you really want to do this, Emily? Sacrifice yourself and leave your daughter as an orphan?" Afton remarked. Henry clenched his jaw, thinking about his daughter.
"You leave her out of this." Henry replied with fierceness present in his voice.
"Well, you want to stick your filthy nose in my business. I can do the same!" Afton shouted back.
"But I am not the one who wants to kill my son."
"You don't understand the struggles our family has faced!"
"I've had struggles with my family too. That doesn't mean I should become a deadbeat father and attempt to kill my child!"
"I have a very good reason to kill him. He knows what he's done in the past."
"Do you hear yourself? You sound like a crazy person! You expect him to remember what happened years ago?" Afton clenched his jaw.
"Fine, then die for him. Die for a useless degenerate like him!" Afton shouted. He lunged at Henry with his fist raised.
Henry blocked him using his arms and attempted to kick him. Unfortunately, Afton dodged before it could land. Afton immediately swung his fist, hitting Henry square in the face. The punch sent Henry down to the floor.
Afton took advantage and dashed for the knife that was a few feet away from him. Henry quickly recovered and ran to Afton before he could pick up the knife, tackling him to the ground once more. This time Afton was prepared.
Afton jabbed his elbow into Henry's stomach, causing him to groan in pain. Henry fell back down as Afton successfully grasped the knife.
With the knife in hand, Afton pinned Henry beneath him and raised it, ready to drive it into Henry's head. However, Henry managed to grab it just in time to prevent Afton from doing so.
Now, the fight had turned into a battle of strength.
"You should've just gone upstairs, Henry. You could've lived!" Afton said, pushing the knife further down.
Henry retaliated, pushing the knife as best as he could. Henry knew his chances of making it out were slim—Afton was much stronger than he was. But Henry knew that he could buy time for Michael to escape and run away forever.
"I don't think I could live with myself knowing you killed another innocent kid again," Henry grumbled. Henry's muscles were giving in. He was running out of strength. His grip was loosening due to the slipperiness from the blood both men were covered in. The knife lowered closer to his heart.
At least he'd die saving someone. Henry hopes that his daughter will forgive him.
The knife came lower. Henry's muscles ached with pain, ready to give in any minute.
"You did well, Henry. But now this is goodbye." Afton said, smiling devilishly. He began to laugh manically as he put more strength into the knife.
"I'm sorry, Charlotte." Henry whispered. He closed his eyes, ready to die.
Creak... click!
"TASER! TASER! TASER!" A voice shouted.
BZZZZZZT
A burst of crackling energy suddenly filled the room. Afton screamed in pain and stiffened up, letting go of the knife. Henry pushed him off and stood up. Afton groaned in pain as his body convulsed on the floor. Henry turned his head to the source. It was a man who stood near the doorway of the basement, in a dark, navy blue blazer, holding a taser gun.
"Wow, a real mess I walked into. You're one lucky man, Henry." The man exclaimed. "A little longer and you would've been a headline, my friend!" Henry gave no reply. He was still processing everything that suddenly happened. He had to remind himself to breathe.
The man looked up the stairs.
"Suspect is down!"
Two police officers came down the stairs with pistols, sweeping the area. Henry watched as their faces faded from hardened to horror and disgust.
"Jesus Christ," one of them mumbled. They made their way to Afton, restraining him and slapping on handcuffs.
"What's going on? Who are you?" Henry asked. The man observing the bloody scene in front of him turned his attention to Henry.
"The name's Detective Matrick Patterson. SFPD Criminal Investigations." Matrick answered. He felt around his neck and pulled out a badge, flashing it to Henry.
"Uh, okay... Who sent you here exactly?" Henry asked.
"Well, you have Mike to thank for it." Patterson said, turning to inspect the room.
"We closely monitored him, noticing that previous night guards, including the one we sent in, were missing from this location." Patterson knelt down near one of the animatronics, examining its body parts.
"However, Mike held out longer than anyone. We never expected him to survive, let alone find this big pile of evidence." Patterson stood up and tucked his hands into the pockets of his black slacks.
"Now the place that was filled with rumors became theories--Who else knows what William Afton has done?" Patterson glanced at Afton, who was escorted with the two officers upstairs. "Hopefully nothing else. I don't feel like eating dinner after this one."
Henry, with his dried, bloody face, stared at Patterson in disbelief. How could he be so calm?