I walked up the staircase of the daycare. I could sneak a peek inside, and I saw Sun cleaning up the arts and crafts we made. I wondered if he was going to keep the paper doll I made of him.

I opened the doors to the daycare lobby, and I sat down on one of the benches. I examined the VHS tape Sun gave me. There wasn't any writing on it, no date or title. VHS's aren't commonly used anymore, so there may not even be a player in the building, but since I'm stuck here, I may as well try to look.

Just as I was about to get up and start looking, I heard heavy footsteps. I had to find a place to hide, but when I scanned the room, I couldn't see any good places. The only thing I could do was crouch beneath the bench and hope I'm not seen.

The ground rumbled as it walked closer. I kept my hand over my mouth to make my breathing quieter. It eventually walked to where I could see its feet. They were huge, orange-brown feet, and it didn't take me long to guess it was Freddy walking here.

Freddy Fazbear, the beloved mascot of Fazbear Entertainment. He's the lead singer in his band, and he's definitely the most popular. Kids would line up and pact the center stage just to get a closer look.

I stayed still, waiting for him to pass, but he must've seen me. His feet walked closer, and then he knelt down. "Hello?" he said, taking a look underneath the bench.

"Ah!" I yelled, and tried to push his face away. I couldn't do much, though, and he shook his head to get rid of my hands. "Well, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Wait a minute," he said, not even letting me answer. "Your face," he noted with concern. He brought his robotic hand to my cut, but I slapped it away. "Don't touch it," I said.

He stared for a moment. "I should take you to a first-aid station," he said. "I don't need one of those," I retaliated, but he put out a hand for me to hold. I shook my head. I don't need first-aid, and more importantly, I can't trust him to actually take me there.

"I will be back," he said. I wanted to yell out and stop him, but I wasn't sure what to say. I wanted to tell him not to alert security, but then he'd ask me a bunch of questions, wouldn't he? I figured he was going to alert security anyways, so if he's going to leave me alone for a brief moment, I can take the chance to leave the lobby and hide somewhere else. He left before I could make up my mind. I had to be gone by the time he was back.

I left the daycare lobby, and was back on the first floor complimentary entry area with Glamrock Gifts and customer service. I didn't know where Freddy went, so I decided to hide in Glamrock Gifts. If I heard him return to the daycare lobby, I could use the elevator up the second floor.

While I waited, I played with one of the figures they sold at the gift shop. It was a Roxy figurine. She's the guitarist, I believe, and she's new to this facility. Fazbear Entertainment is a big enterprise, and she's one of the first of her kind. There's been several generations of Freddy and Chica, but Roxy replaced Foxy, a pirate animatronic. I'm not sure if there's ever been a Foxy in this facility specifically, but if there was, he's long gone.

Foxy isn't the only animatronic to be replaced. Bonnie was a rabbit, and he was the band's bassist. His case is different from Foxy, though. Bonnie was definitely a part of the Mega Pizzaplex when it first opened, but for whatever reason, they swapped him out with Montgomery Gater. He was probably just not popular enough. These kinds of things happen, where characters are changed, redesigned, or just replaced entirely.

I could feel myself becoming tired, but I can't fall asleep while sitting in the middle of the gift shop. Staying in one place lets my tiredness grow, so I stood up and stretched a bit to shake it off. Of course, when I did, I heard those thundering footsteps, so I hid behind the counter and looked through the window.

I didn't see Freddy anywhere, but his footsteps were getting closer. If he assumed I'm still in the daycare lobby, he'd rush over there, and not check behind the gift shop counter.

"There you are, superstar!"

I turned around, and there he stood. He must've planned to walk through Glamrock Gifts to the daycare, for some reason. "Here," his chest cavity opened, and inside was a red box. "It's a first-aid kit," he said expectantly.

"I'm not putting my hand in there. It's the same size as me," I said. If that thing closed while I had my arm in there, it would probably eat and crush me. Freddy laughed and took it out himself.

He gave me the first-aid kit and watched as I opened it. I had a lot of questions, but I mainly wanted to ask about me being here. Specifically, if he's alerted anyone I'm here. I tried to think of a way to ease into the question, but when I couldn't think of anything, I decided I'd just be blunt. "You didn't tell anyone I'm here, did you?" I asked.

"I tried to alert the main office, but there was a connection error, so I'll take you to the office myself," he said.

"No! No, you can't do that," I said. I almost dropped the box when I heard that. Thank God for connection errors.

Freddy looked at me confused. "Why not? Don't you want to go home? Your parents are probably worried sick," he said.

"It's a long story, but you have to trust me when I say I cannot be found out," I said. I was struggling to find the right words to tell him. It's an iffy subject; if I don't tell him enough, he might send me home right away, but if I tell him too much, he will also send me home. I know I wouldn't want someone sneaking through my house searching for my darkest secrets.

Freddy knelt down and scanned me. Literally. The beams from his eyes were blinding. "Hmm," he said, "you don't have a guest profile." I've been here before as a guest, but it has been a while, so it's likely they just removed it. "What's your name?"

"I'm Gregory," I said.

"Gregory," Freddy repeated quietly as he took the first-aid kit out of my hands. I had completely forgotten about it; I got so worried about Freddy exposing me to the main office that I hadn't even put a band-aid on. He opened one of the band-aid packages and lightly placed one on my cheek. "I can help you. Why are you here?"

I took a deep breath. I have to play my cards carefully. Be honest enough to give a valid reason to not call security, but also don't reveal too much as to have security called on me.

"I'm looking for something," I said.

"If you lost something, we can check the lost and found," Freddy said. That's exactly what Sun said too.

"No," I corrected him, "I didn't lose anything. I'm looking for clues for some unanswered questions I have."

Freddy beamed up. 'Well, you can just ask me! I'm programmed to answer frequently asked questions about the Mega Pizzaplex," he explained.

"No," I sighed, "you wouldn't have the answer I'm looking for."

Freddy tilted his head. "I'm confused... Do you even know what you're looking for?"

No, no I didn't. I know what I wanted, but I wouldn't know what it would look like, or how I'd obtain it. I need clues to find out what happened that day. I need hints to solve the mystery of his disappearance. I came here because this is where it happened all those years ago, but any evidence could be gone by now.

But I know he's not the only one to have gone missing, and the numbers have been rising the past few months. I thought, maybe, if I snuck in after hours, I could freely roam the building and find anything that resembles something incriminating, but all I've gotten so far is a cut on my face and a VHS tape that isn't even labeled. Maybe I should just let Freddy take me back to the office so I can go home. This was a dumb idea anyways.

I saw a light from the side of my eye. At closer inspection, it was a flashlight, and it was becoming brighter.

"You have to hide," Freddy said.

"Where?" I asked. The only reason I hid in here from Freddy was because I didn't think he'd come inside, but I have no idea who this is and how they act.

Freddy opened his chest cavity. "Get inside," he said.

"Oh god, really?" I blurted out. Freddy looked around for any other place for me to hide in, but it's not like I had any other choice. I sighed and climbed inside.

It wasn't as much of a tight squeeze as I thought it would be, but there wasn't much leg room. I couldn't see, but I could hear what was happening. I tried to ignore the electrical wires by shutting my eyes and focusing on what I could hear.

"Freddy! There you are," someone said. It was a woman's voice, but it certainly wasn't Chica.

"Vanessa, what are you doing here?" Freddy asked.

"My job," Vanessa replied. "You're supposed to be in your room, remember? Your systems crashed during the show, and now the whole place is closed until we can patch you up."

I could feel Freddy shift uncomfortably. "I am... sorry, about last night," he said remorsefully.

"It's fine, just return to your room so you don't break yourself anymore," Vanessa said. "Oh, also... There's some kid sneaking around."

I froze. She knows I'm here? How? I could've sworn I was incredibly careful. Except for Sun finding me. And screaming at Moon. And also Chica hearing me. Looking back, I guess I wasn't as stealthy as I thought I was.

"If you see him," she continued, "notify me immediately."

"Of course!" Freddy said. You better not open this hatch, Freddy .

After a couple moments of silence, Freddy said, "She's gone, you can come out now."

I pushed open the trap door and hopped out. "Who was that? And how'd she find me?" I frantically asked.

"That was Vanessa. She's the security guard here at the Mega Pizzaplex," Freddy answered.

"But I didn't hear her footsteps," I said. All the animatronics I've come across so far are loud. They're massive enough to make the ground shake as they walk, but I didn't hear Vanessa at all. I just had to ask, "Is she human?"

"Yes," Freddy replied.

"But I thought this whole place was fully automated? No human employees?" I asked.

" Almost fully automated," Freddy corrected me.

"Ugh," I groaned. Robots are easy to navigate around, but I'm not sure if I could manipulate an adult the way I can with robots.

"Gregory," Freddy said in a low voice. I turned around to look at him. "I like having you around, but it is best if you go home. This pizzeria is not the same at night."

"No! Listen to me," I said. I was starting to get desperate. "I may not know what in particular I'm looking for, but I'll know it when I find it. Please, if I'm just given enough time, I can find it, and then you'll never have to see or hear from me again."

Freddy looked at me and sighed. "Okay. And I'll help you, in case you get lost or hurt yourself," he said.

"Yes! Yes, thank you!" I exclaimed. I don't know how much time Freddy will give me, but that just means I have to work faster.

"Here," Freddy said. He handed me a watch with bear eyes on it. "It's a Faz Watch. You'll be able to call me whenever you need me, in case we get separated."

I wrapped it around my wrist and tightened it so that it wouldn't fall off. Now I can call him if anything bad happens while I'm exploring. This should be great!

"Where to first, superstar?"

"Hmm..." I thought for a moment.

"Do you have a VHS player?"