Nyctophobia

Chapter 4: A Dark Return

A/N: It's baaaccccckkk. If you follow me on Tumblr, you probably saw my post about a week ago. In case you didn't see it: Yup, this AU/Series is back, baby. I was perusing my Google Docs library when I stumbled upon the outline for this fic and thought, "Yeah, I had a pretty good thing going. Why did I ever stop writing it?" The most obvious change I've made is the rating, and I did that after revising my outline. I decided I wanted some smut, darn it, and I wanted things to be darker in general. "Autophobia" will likely remain a T rating, even after my planned revisions to the last chapter(?). Why the question mark? Because I may add another chapter. After reviewing feedback on it, I realized the ending did come off as a little blunt and rushed and I want to fix it. Anyway, welcome back especially to my fellow Marlie shippers. I promise there will be some tooth-rotting fluff amongst the darkness along with some smut. So enjoy!

I also wanted to plug my Tumblr blogs real quick in case you wanted to follow me. I have my general blog here: https://www.tumblr.com/livilumina
I mainly reblog FNAF and Half-Life stuff as well as random shitposts, so if you're into that you can follow me. If you're only interested in my fanfiction, which is totally fine, my dedicated fanfic blog is here:
https://www.tumblr.com/liviasfics
If you follow me there, you'll be the first to know about updates to this and my other fics.

So welcome back to the series! Comments and likes are forever appreciated. Thank you so much!

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There was a chime as Charlie and Michael walked into the restaurant. She recognized it as part of the Freddy Fazbear's jingle the animatronics sang every hour. It was pitch black in the restaurant save for the glowing signs by the emergency exits. Charlie pulled out her phone and held it in front of her as she and Michael traversed the dining room.

"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!" Freddy's boisterous voice echoed through the whole building.

Charlie yelped and stumbled backwards, colliding with her partner.

"Run." He said urgently, helping her right herself.

"No, it's okay. They're just... they're on all the time. It's normal." Charlie said as calmly as she could.

"Bloody hell." Michael muttered as she took his hand and led him down the left hallway leading to the security office. It was cluttered and very hot despite the January wind outside. There was a small fan sitting on the desk, circulating a disparity of air. Charlie fumbled for the desk lamp in the dark, which winked to life only after she flipped the switch multiple times.

"There. Okay, let's see what's in these filing cabinets." She spoke as though she were out of breath. Michael hit the switch on one of the doorlights and it buzzed angrily.

"Can't imagine sitting in here for six hours." He remarked, pressing the door switch next.

"Stop messing with the door and take some of these folders." Charlie snapped, holding up several manila folders.

"Do we need all of these?" Michael inquired skeptically.

"I'd rather grab a bunch of useless folders than miss one I really need that's mixed in." She cleared out the cabinet and stood up with a grunt. "This is all of them. Let's get the hell out of..." She trailed off.

"What is it?"

Burn them. Free them.

"...There's something I have to see."

"What? We can't stick around here!" Michael said with exasperation.

"I'll be quick." Charlie picked up the tablet that sat on the nearby desk and turned it on. "Dining room, east hallway... kitchen."