Thanatophobia| MICHAEL AFTON x READER

3| Mental Mindsets

1st person, Michael Afton POV.

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My neck tingled as I watched L/N leave. Despite not having any nails, I could still scratch at my skin, which felt like it would peel off at any uneven touch.

It wouldn't, of course...I've bandaged it too tightly.

But it's still an understandable fear.

I took a back path to the rear part of the building. There was a door at the back alley that I took to get into a small, darkroom. All it contained was a table, two chairs, and a few things on the table like a recording tape and a clipboard. In the far chair sat something...far too familiar.

As I sat in front of it, I saw it twitch. It looked like it was breathing...

--

Something is Loose inside the pizzeria.

--

I felt my neck twitch as I unlocked the doors to the pizzeria. It was currently 5:30, and I expected L/N, as well as a few others, to show up at any minute.

I took into consideration what L/N said about Lefty...he has caused many problems, so I took him down and put up Mr. Hippo, a purple, happy-looking hippo. Lefty got put into the back employee workroom...Hopefully, they won't complain about it.

I took a few minutes in the loo to fix myself up. I hated what I saw in the mirror, however, I can't exactly avoid it...

My condition has gotten worse, shocker shocker. My mouth no longer contains any teeth. My muscle structure has deteriorated so much that it could no longer hold any teeth in. It just sunk and squished. Thankfully, however, my bone structure has stayed strong. This made it easy to move my jaw to speak. I do not know how I am able to communicate. Surly my vocal cords have completely decomposed, as well as my windpipe and any organs required for speaking.

My skin has one of the final stages of decomposition. It looks like melted rubber, and it makes me look sort of...bluish-purple. Thankfully the bleeding has stopped. This requires a lot fewer bandages to be used.

My excuse for these is burn scars- which isn't entirely false. I tell everyone that I wrap my skin to protect it from sensitive environments while burns heal. This is also the reason I wear a mask- to hide the Skin graphs. It seems to convince them.

I hear a faint chime of the front doors opening, which causes me to Jolt. I've become more easily startled recently...

I pull my mask onto my face and unlock the loo and walk out. L/N arrive first.

"Good Morning," I said quietly, approaching them slowly.

"Hey." They responded, waving faintly. They set their bag down on the closest party table. "You couldn't at least set up the tables?" They said in a stern tone.

"Er..." I look at the bare tables. "I was busy with the bandages," I said faintly, waving them off as I pulled the supply cart out of a side closet. "Isn't the end of the world, my dear."

"Right..." They said in a huff. The attitude was often present in their tone. "Let's get it done...we open in ten minutes!"

"Got it, boss." I rolled my eyes...Well, I didn't. I don't have eyes. But I would of if I did!

"Har har." They faked a laugh, grinning slightly as they helped me set the tables. "Sarcastic, no?"

"Not on purpose." I huff, chuckling with them as they tied strings to the balloons I blew up with the helium tank. A few of the other employees showed up in this process.

"Maybe I should start showing up earlier to get things done before opening..." L/N said slowly, pushing the cart back into the closet. "I see you replaced that black bear. What a cute Hippo."

"Lefty is in the backroom," I said quickly. "Powered off...Don't worry."

"Right..." L/N said. "Mr. Schmidt, you need to get things organized."

"Thank you for that obvious knowledge..." I shook my head. "I don't have anywhere to put him, Y/N. You can deal with him being in the workroom until I can find someone to take him in."

"You don't have to get Snippy." They sighed, shifting their weight onto their other leg. Their hand was on their hip.

I stared for a moment. I think their...stern demeanor, or maybe the way the light hit their i/c eyes made me feel sort of funky.

"Mr. Schmidt?" They said suddenly, snapping their fingers in front of my mask.

"My Apologies, L/N..." I said slowly, turning around and striding to my office door. "Knock if you need something..."

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1st person. Y/N POV.

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I stared as Mr. Schmidt Practically ran to his office and locked it behind him. I knew he wouldn't answer if any of us knocked, so I sort of cringed. Once again, he zoned out and went completely oblivious of his staring. To be honest, it was starting to make me feel a bit self-conscious. Does he see something embarrassing that I'm failing to notice? Does my hair look odd? Do I have something on my face?

I took a trip to the loo to stare into the mirror for a moment. My face was completely ordinary, in my opinion. Sure I have my own insecurities, but there was nothing out of the ordinary wrong. My uniform was fine, my oxfords were still shiny, my tie was tied and tucked fine...

Maybe he was just a bit of a creep sometimes, I suppose.

When I leave the loo, I saw a small family come in. Their child looked no older than six, and the little girl looked even younger. They went straight to the small stage, which I learned held a fancy-looking pirate fox. The fox had a small parrot that would fly around on a wire and give children candy and tokens.

This was one of my favorite animatronics that Mr. Schmidt had. It wasn't Janky, it wasn't odd-looking, and it had great music and personality.

However...the bird did end up flying into a little girl and smacking her right in the head. She had to be rushed to the ER due to overreacting parents. Because of this, a lawsuit was filed, and now Im forced to take it up with Mr. High and Mighty.

I knock on his door.

No answer.

I knock again.

Again, no answer.

I roll my eyes and my hand lands on the doorknob. It was unlocked...I pushed it open slightly to peek inside. I couldn't help but stare at Mr. Schmidt.

His mask was lifted up, but his face was still barely visible. From his nose down to his chin, he had white bandages wrapped around his face. His eyes looked deep, and it was like he didn't have eyeballs at all...just a robotic glow of beads right in the middle. His forehead was covered with the mask hanging off of his head, and his bangs from his hair cushioning the mask edge. He looked focused on the computer in front of him, and the two large, gaping vents to each of his sides.

"Mr. Schmidt?" I said, and he visibly jolted. Hard. He almost fell out of his seat.

"L/N!" He shouted, quickly standing up and shoving me out of the room. "Do not come in here! It's dangerous!" He said quickly, slamming the door right in my face.

I heard a child laugh come from the side vents.

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