Five Nights at Freddy's: Ghosts of the Past Episode 1

Chapter 18: The Sinkhole

   Vanessa looked at the boy, who was looking back at her, the Security guard, with an odd mixture of shock, relief, and distrust. She could understand his feelings. Gregory had spent an entire night running from her, and she wanted him to suddenly believe her.

   "Are... you going to kill me?" Gregory asked nervously. Vanessa looked into the eyes of the child standing before her. He looked hardened, deprived of any soul, and exhausted, all at the same time.

   "No! No, I'm not going to hurt you," Vanessa replied softly. She reached into her suit's pocket where her knife was, grabbed the handle, held the blade in front of Gregory, and dropped the knife to the ground.

"You can trust me," Vanessa said in a soft, compassionate tone.

   To signal her friendliness, Vanessa reached into her pocket again and pulled out the taser she took from Gregory back at Lost and Found. She reached out as if she was going to give the weapon to him. Gregory slowly extended his own shaky arm, sweat rolling down his head from anxiety. Despite this, he took the weapon from Vanessa gratefully.

   "I think you deserve that. It's payment for what he made me try to do to you..." Vanessa explained, spitting out the word, 'he,' with utter hatred.

   "Who's... he?" Gregory finally spoke up. He asked the question nervously, but finally felt confident to speak to the person who used to be his wannabe serial killer.

   "HE is an entity named Glitchtrap, a virus who took over my body and every animatronic in this place, including Freddy. He used to be an animatronic possessed by the soul of a man named William Afton. He was behind all of those killings from the 1980s," Vanessa replied.

"Glitchtrap... he's responsible for these killings too, isn't he?" Gregory asked with a tone of surprise, despite already knowing the answer. Vanessa averted her gaze out of sadness.

"Yes... he is. You, and your friend Cassie, are the only ones who survived him. Everyone who came into contact with Glitchtrap ended up dead, except for the three of us..." Vanessa said grimly. Her eyes began to water slightly. Gregory knew the officer must've been under her control for months, which broke her mentally and emotionally.

   "How long have you been under his control?" Gregory prodded.

   "I've been forced to obey his commands for a year and a half..." Vanessa whispered.

Gregory's eyes widened in utter horror. He was standing before someone who likely had to endure Glitchtrap for the longest, yet escape with her sanity intact.

"Alright, we need to end this. Let's go find Freddy. Maybe then you can tell us how to defeat him?" Gregory asked.

"Freddy isn't going to trust me. Are you sure?" Vanessa asked uncertainly.

   "Yeah! I'm sure he'll trust you!" Gregory exclaimed with certainty.

   "Okay then... go find Freddy. I'll meet you two at Roxy Raceway," Vanessa agreed nervously.

   "Well, I'll be going now!" Gregory said with a tone of finality.

   Gregory sprinted out of the Security room-turned dorm and ducked into the vent that would lead down to the Observation Room. As he was crawling through the vent shaft, the sound of metal popping and echoing through the square chamber, he called Freddy on his FazWatch.

   "Freddy?! Are you there? Listen, I've saved Vanny. It turns out she was Officer Vanessa! She's been under Glitchtrap's control for a year. Are you alright?!" Gregory asked loudly. His voice echoed throughout the long shaft.