Deceptive

The Visit

"C'mon, pick up..."

Well, it was decided. Charlie was once again making the decision to chase something that she wasn't even completely sure was really there anymore. It was probably a stupid decision. No, it was definitely stupid. Not that she was too focused on how stupid she was being at the moment. She had too many other thoughts clouding her mind.

At the current moment, she was somewhere in the middle of town and had just run into Chief Burke. He was just about to get into his car when he spotted and stopped her. He had something interesting to tell her.

...Maybe interesting wasn't the right word. Strange and terrifying would be a better fit.

Now Charlie was standing near a payphone, waiting for somebody to answer her call. She drummed her fingers on the fading yellow pages of the phonebook crammed onto the small shelf the phone provided, beginning to wonder if she dialed the right number.

Finally, somebody picked up. "Hello, y-you're calling—" That sounded like Freddy. Charlie had dialed the right number. Okay. Good.

However, what wasn't good was that before Freddy even got the chance to finish, the call abruptly ended.

Charlie stared down at the receiver for a moment. "...Alright then." Unfortunately, she wasn't going to get her money back for that. She dug around her jacket and jeans pockets for more coins. "Those were my last quarters. Great."

Charlie needed to tell them, though. This was important. She then decided that the next best logical course of action was to visit in person.

She crossed the parking lot to reach her old, beat-up car and set off, trying hard not the dwell on what she had heard just yet.

The drive probably took about twenty-five minutes, but it didn't feel like it. It felt way longer. It felt like every car that drove in front of her was going way under the speed limit, like every red light she stopped at was never going to turn green again.

When she finally reached the building, Charlie was greeted with an empty parking lot. For a second, she thought they may have been closed. It wouldn't have been a surprise if they were. The sun was getting low in the sky.

Still, Charlie got out of her car. It had been weeks since she had set foot on the property. It felt the same way it had before. A bit sad and lonely, but strangely inviting.

The closer to the front she got the more unopened the place looked. The interior visible behind the windows was shrouded in darkness.

But... there was some light. Something dim was resting near the cash register. It appeared to be a cheap, battery-powered lantern or something of the like.

The door was locked. Charlie hesitantly knocked, despite nobody being in sight.

Foxy popped up from behind the counter, setting a small box on its surface. He looked right at her and she awkwardly waved.

Hopping the counter and heading over, Fox pulled his keys out of his pocket. He fumbled with them for a moment before managing to unlock the doors.

"Charlie! What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you guys," she explained. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"Oh, we're having some sort of issue with our power. We haven't figured out why quite yet, but Freddy and Bon-Bon are investigating it." Foxy started leading her towards the back rooms. "Anyway, what did you need to talk about? Is it super important?"

"Sort of, yeah. It's about..." Charlie stopped dead in her tracks, trailing off.

The door in front of them had swung open and a tall woman stepped out. She stopped too, locking eyes with Charlie.

Foxy looked between the two as they remained stock-still and silent before suddenly, he realized that when Ballora told him to call Charlie and tell her that Elizabeth wasn't dead, he hadn't actually done it.

He was going to. He was. He remembered picking up the phone and dialing the first half of her number, but he didn't end up dialing the second half because Bon-Bon came flying into the room and hit him in the head.

Foxy got into an argument with Freddy because of it. He was so annoyed and distracted afterward that he completely forgot to actually make the call. He felt awful. Really, really awful. How could he possibly forget?!

"Oh, crap... I was supposed to tell you that she isn't dead. I'm so, so sorry, Charlie. I completely forgot."

Charlie gave Foxy a quick glance before looking back at Elizabeth. "It's fine," she told him, but it didn't sound like it was.

"I'm so sorry," he said again.

Charlie scanned over Elizabeth's face, seemingly searching for something. "You're not dead," the brunette stated. It was supposed to be a question but it didn't come out that way.

"No, I'm not," Elizabeth replied.

"...How?"

"The Wolf and I managed to avoid being crushed by rubble. I escaped its grasp and clawed my way out of what was left of the building."

"How long did that take you?"

"Couldn't tell you exactly. Definitely days, though."

"Did you get badly injured?"

"Not really, all things considered."

"Riley—"

"Call me Elizabeth now. Please."

There was a pause in the exchange.

Foxy was unsure if he should say anything or not. He felt like he was standing in the middle of some sort of rehearsed interrogation session or something. There was practically no gap between question and answer. One would start speaking the very second after the other finished.

"...When did you start having issues with your power?"

"Around thirty minutes ago, I think."

"Did anyone else around you lose power?"

"No."

"Have any other issues around here lately?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Well, I think you guys should really start keeping an eye out again."

"And why would that be?"

"I think you should all hear it at once."

There was yet another pause, though this one wasn't quite as long as the first.

"Then I guess we better go get everyone."

We?

Elizabeth grabbed Foxy's wrist and dragged him into the back rooms.

"What was that all about?" he blurted out after they were halfway down the hall.

"What was what all about?"

"That conversation. It was weird."

Elizabeth shrugged, finally releasing his wrist. "No idea." Before Foxy could say anything in response, he spoke again. "You grab Fred and Bon and I'll grab Lor."

She disappeared down one of the other hallways.

"...Okay."