36 YEARS LATER

"Have you had any drugs recently?" she asked. I look at her in disgust. I clear my throat "Ma'am, I don't do drugs. I have tried to tell you this but you never listen!" I storm out of the room and jog to the door towards Damien's car

Skanky, you still have 20 minutes left in the session." he says bored.

"Whatever Damien just drive please" I say ignoring his stupid face he always makes when he is high off his head. Damien is my older brother. He's 24 but insists he's the "Wisest of them all Lil Brother." Damien interrupts my train of thought. "So are you excited about your 19th birthday?" He asked while holding up my 1983-style Foxy jumper. "I hear Fredbear and his friends will be there! Like Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy!"

He stops the car and looks at me concerned "look buddy, I know you don't like FredBears anymore but" I interrupt him "it's because I'm not 8 anymore Damien just please I just want to visit somewhere else next time. This is the fourth time my birthday has been held there. Can't we visit mum's Studio for my birthday or something else at least?"

“But I have already paid for it, and everyone is there.” Damien looks at me with a smirk on his face, "I actually think I have an idea." He slams down on the gas pedal, “HOLD ON TO YOUR HORSES, LITTLE BROTHER!”

In a few hours, we arrived at an old abandoned building. It takes Damien less than a minute to jump out of the truck and shout, "here she is mum's original studio!" He puts his hands on his hips and yells, "SIMON SKUNKS ANIMATION!". In a smirking expression, he gestures to me, telling me to follow him in and then he opens the door

"Can you please tell me what this place is?" I asked curiously to Damien, who says nothing and flicks on an old switch and one by one all sorts of lights come on illuminating the old building. He walks towards the stage in the middle of the restaurant and rips the sheet off, exposing dozens of old mouldy pens and paint. He stands on the desks, and I hear a faint voice. "Get to the Basement Chris" it said. My nose burned instantly as the freezing cold touched my fingertips. I look towards the elevator door and shiver. "Damien, why don't we walk to the elevator and look around the basement?" I say nervously. He notices that I am worried about something, but does not ask me.

"Sure Skanky, I didn't know you liked the dark so much so I guess we can go." Damien looks at me with a look of worry "just stay close to me Chris for some reason I don't trust this" then he walks into a spider web falling to the ground screaming "I'M HIT CHRIS RUN FOR YOUR LIFE ARGHHHHH" he realises that he just walked into a spider web so he quickly gets up and acts like nothing happened "well the elevator is pretty dark and gross are you sure you…"

I cut him off "yes, I am sure of it" I hiss at him, he opens the door, the walls were covered in a thick layer of moss and on the floor were red stains, Damien walks into the elevator laughing "okay chris we have seen the elevator now let's go back to the car and leave now" he says shivering

"don't leave now, go to the basement" the voice whispers, reluctantly I press the B button,the elevator squeaks and slowly makes its way down, the doors open revealing a large metal door i look at it and twist the handle as soon as i do i regret it immediately on the floor was the corpses of 3 children and a man, their bones were twisted and rotten, the smell of the flesh filled the freezer and escaped into the kitchen. Then the man's corpse moved. "Hello Christopher you probably have no idea who I am, but you are in serious danger" the corpse says. I look at it one last time before running out of the freezer. Then I fell onto the floor knocking myself out.

"Chris?" I hear a voice say "Chris it's me damien!" I try to speak but nothing comes out. "I'm sorry Chris" tears fill Damien's eyes "why did I bring you here?" I jolted up gasping in my bed "Chris you're alive!" Damien hugs me, I look at him confused "you were out for 3 weeks!" I blink wondering if what I just witnessed was another dream.

"Damien, what did you see in my eyes before I got knocked out?" I asked him with a frozen face. He shrugged and hugged me again. He shook his head and said, "Nothing. Everything just became dark." I felt a chill run down my spine as he hugged me again. I knew then that we were really in serious trouble. "We need to go back Damien. There was a person and he told me I was in serious trouble" I told him. I got out of my bed and ran down the stairs. "Authorities are still wondering what caused the bite to occur." The TV blasted an incident. "What did I miss?" I whisper to myself. I reach the front door and swing it open for what seems like a lifetime.

"Are you ready to see what is really happening? But let's get a double-scoop of ice cream first?" Daimen asks me, smiling. Sometimes I wonder how we are related. I take a deep breath and agree. How can he stay so cheerful after such a terrifying experience? I understand why Daimen wants ice cream. It's a way of giving himself a moment to process the situation and take a break from the tension. It's a way of calming himself down and taking a step back. This will enable him to gather his thoughts and prepare himself to face the truth. I get in the car and we drive to the building again with some scoops of ice cream.

The voice whispered, "Welcome back Christopher, we have a lot to discuss," it said as we finally reached the place again. I walk back into the building aiming straight for the freezer; however my path is blocked by the corpse. "Take me to the newly built building," the corpse says. I look at it and wonder "How?" I ask. Then the corpse's soul appears behind it. Its soul is a small cartoon skunk. Surrounding the skunk are 3 other souls. The skunk looks at me and says "You must take us to the renovated building to find the answers you seek". I nod and walk away, souls trailing behind. Damien looks at me and walks towards me "so did you find the root of the problem?" I look at the skunk "yeah I did damien, the answers are in the new building" I say, he looks at me and asks "do you mean Spoody Skunks Pizza?" I nod and we get back into the car and drive to Spoody's. We arrive at the pizza place and see a long line of people waiting for their orders. I take a deep breath and proceed towards the counter to get answers. "Hey Kiddo what's up!" my father says, "nothing really, just planning to have some pizza" I say to him.

We enter the dining area and then the skunk and the souls disappear one by one and then the lights shut off. Then 3 lights shone on me from the stage. I turn around to see that the souls have found themselves inside the animatronic skunk, bat and cat. "Thank you Chris" says the skunk "you found my kids' fresh bodies" I was confused but then I realised what had happened. The souls searched for bodies to inhabit, and I helped them discover their new homes. I realised I had done something terrible and it’s ALL MY FAULT

"Thank you so much Chris you might have just doomed most of your family" says the skunk laughing. "What do you mean?" I ask. I look around for a small spirit. The skunk's laughter fades away, leaving me to ponder the cryptic words. I turn to depart, but then I hear the bat whisper behind me: "Beware of darkness." I shiver and quickly leave, feeling a chill down my spine. I meet Damien outside the pizzeria looking very worried. Are you ready to go home?" he asks smiling. I look at him and get in the car "are we horrible people?" I ask sadly, Damien looks at me and smiles "well I might be but I know you're the best younger brother anyone could ask for!" his words fill my heart and make me smile "so i forgot to give you your birthday present silly me!" he hands me a poorly wrapped bag, i rip open the package it's a note it says "your present is right next to you" i look at my brother, he is making a very weird face

So I punched him in the face. The rest of the day was just us laughing, making jokes and mimicking our dad just normal things. We finally arrived home to a gruesome scene. On the wall was our father's head. There were words on the wall written in blood. The last thing I wanted to see was something terrifying like my mother playing with his skull like a puppet. She giggled saying "Oh Simon, you can't cook pies in the oven, only me, Suzie!" She laughed again. I looked into the room and saw that she wasn't holding his skull, she was holding his heart. She smothered his severed heart and drank the entire thing while smiling. I wanted to scream but couldn't . I felt paralyzed. I knew then that she was completely lost in her own world. I ran towards Damien but he was already out the door. I chased after him with tears in my eyes tripping over sticks and rocks. I could sense her coming closer and feel her breath down my neck making me sprint even faster. I saw Damien trip over a branch and slip onto a barbed wire fence slicing his neck in two. I screamed his name and ran over to him, my heart racing. I quickly grabbed a cloth from my pocket and applied pressure to his wound. I could hear my mother's footsteps approaching and I knew I had to act fast. I tried to lift Damien but he was too heavy. "J-Just leave me, it'll be okay." Blood spurted out of his mouth and then he took his last breath. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at my brother's lifeless body. I couldn't believe he was dead. I just wanted to hold him and never let go. But there was no time. I ran back to the pizzeria with tears in my eyes and heard her voice singing

"You're back earlier than expected," said the skunk. "What happened?" I ignored his question and ran into the office and hid inside one of the lockers. Like I had expected she entered the building and started to search. I could hear her footsteps approaching then I heard her sit down on a chair "if i can't see you right now i'll search for you!" she laughed crazily "it'll be okay Chris, i have an idea" said the skunk

The intercom turned on "HELLO AND WELCOME TO YOUR NEW JOB AT SPOODY SKUNKS PIZZERIA I AM JAMES AND I WILL HELP YOU GET THROUGH THE NIGHT" said the intercom "IN FRONT OF YOU IS A VENT WHICH CIRCULATES AIR THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING ON EITHER SIDES ARE TWO DOORS BUT YOU CAN’T CLOSE THEM WELL THIS HAS BEEN FUN BUT I’VE GOTTA GO SO I’LL SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT" the voice got quieter "Susan" the skunk turned towards me "okay my kids know that's the signal" he says quietly, i look at him and ask "how long have you been planning this exactly?" he doesn't answer. All he shows me is the office camera feed. I stared at the screen in shock, wondering how long the skunk secretly planned this attack. A chill ran down my spine as I realised I was now a part of this. I gulped, not sure what to expect next.

Susan flicked her flashlight on and flashed the vent and what I saw was terrifying. A 6 foot bat-styled purple robot with red overalls crawled through the vent. “H-HELLO THERE!" it said as it made its way through the vent on all fours. It opened its eyes, revealing two glowing red orbs that stared at us. Its wings flapped and crawled out of the air vent. Susan threw her flashlight at the robot but I didn't do anything. The light flickered then the bat ran back through the vent. "Dammit!" said the skunk. "Now Simon!" The robot ran to the door but Susan shut it just in time. Finally, I heard the cat animatronic bolt towards the other door screeching but to no avail. Susan was prepared. Susan calmly pulled out a device from her pocket and pointed it towards the robot. Suddenly, the robot stopped in its tracks and remained still. Susan won the battle with her quick thinking and technology. "What was that skunk?" I ask him but he is nowhere to be seen

"finally we can get our revenge" said the skunk from inside the office "Susan remember me?" The skunk grabbed Susan and ploughed her into the ground making her mouth burst open spraying blood everywhere "YOU KILLED US SUSAN YOU KILLED YOUR CHILDREN! NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!" he grabbed her by her neck and squeezed, killing her. The skunk laughed as he watched her lifeless body fall to the ground. He then picked up her body and dragged it outside, leaving it to rot in the sun. He sneered, satisfied he had finally revenged himself.

"A kind, fun-loving individual who always enjoyed spending time with his brother Chris. Damien died at 23. His younger brother Chris was with him when he passed away." I was devastated by Damien's passing and knew things would never be the same. The fact that I could not save him made me feel guilty. Now I have no family, no mother, no father, and no brother. It must have been the skunk's fault but it couldn't have been, the skunk killed Susan and saved me. I need more answers to help me but how? "Now Chris will come up onto the stage and say how his time with Damien made him into the person you recognize today" said the pastor, but I already left. "Look who's back!" said the skunk. "How are you today?" I ignored the spirit and walked into the kitchen angry at my mother's actions. When I opened the door I saw Damien's present on the ground. I held it softly. "Where did you get this skunk?" I yelled at the spirit with rage and threw it at its head, i felt a cold chill on my neck, "burn down the building and destroy the animatronics make that loser pay his

kids don't deserve life and neither do you Christopher" the voice echoed in my brain, suddenly i felt a warm presence "Skanky i know you can't see me but don't do it please" its voice was glitchy i turned around to see a dark figure that resembled Damien's body it had a white stitch across its neck it's body was pitch black but only it's eyes were visible "D-Damien is that you?" I asked, I tried to grab his hand but I couldn't get a hold of it. I watched him slowly disappear into the darkness, I was left standing there confused and scared. I had no idea what was happening. I ran out of the building and never looked back.

And it was only my Birthday