Five Nights At Freddy's: Clawmarks

CHAPTER FOUR

Max sat down and waited, listening for Vicky. He nearly had a heart attack when she darted in, knocking him down. "You were too slow!" Vicky growled, then helped Max back on his feet. Then her vicious demeanor seemed to change as she added, "Just kidding. It's nice to see my favorite security guard again!"

"Really?" Max asked nervously. In response, Vicky dropped him into his chair. "Nope," she said. "Which reminds me...you talked to Will, right?" Max felt his heart drop into his stomach. "No...b-but he did mention he had kids of his own who perished. You don't s-suppose he killed them?" Max stammered. Vicky's grimace turned into a thoughtful look. "I can work with this," she purred. "However, it wasn't what I wanted. So you failed me anyways."

Without warning, Vicky slashed Max's arm with her pizza cutter. He yelled in surprise, adrenaline keeping him from hurting right away. Blood dripped down his shoulder. "You'll be fine," Vicky muttered. "I just missed the artery. We don't want you dying right now, would we?" Max glared at her. "I'll...I will..." he groaned. Vicky got up in his face. "You'll what?" she snarled. "I'll get information tomorrow..." Max whispered. "For sure."

The animatronic smiled. "That's what I figured. Now watch those monitors like a good boy," she giggled. With that, the hybrid leaned up on the wall. They were both quiet for a while before Vicky spoke again: "By the way, I saw you eavesdropping earlier today." Max shrugged. "Sorry. I just wanted to see why your 'loving' creator was screaming his head off at you guys."

Vicky laughed, "That old fool was upset because somebody knocked over that precious endoskeleton." Max asked, "Did you do it?" The animatronic grinned. "I thought that would've been pretty obvious," she said. Then she looked down at the floor, adding softly, "Freddy stood up for me..."  Max rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you have a thing for him..." he pleaded.

"I can't help it!" Vicky exclaimed. "He's so tall and dark and handsome and strong and mysterious and his beautiful eyes and his wits and-" Max interrupted, "You can't fall in love with somebody you're supposed to protect me from!" Vicky shot back, "And you're not my dad! Anyways, it's too late to say anything. I'm making him a present."

She presented a brand-new top hat. "His old one's getting kind of dusty, so..." Vicky's voice trailed off as she looked over at the show stage camera. "Can I watch this one for you?" she asked. Max sighed, "Be my guest. Let me know when one of them is moving."

Max focused on the other cameras, marking down Bonnie and Chica's movements in his notepad. Oddly enough, Bonnie may have had the quickest route to the office, but Chica was faster. She didn't seem to waste much time at all. When Max looked over at Vicky, she was touching the screen with Freddy on it. "Hey Freddy..." the animatronic purred. Max shook his head, looking for the bear's bandmates. Bonnie and Chica weren't a problem right now. Max switched the feed to Pirate's Cove, only to find Foxy wasn't there.

"Vicky?" Max asked. She didn't respond right away. "Vicky!" he snapped. Vicky looked up from the stage monitor. "What is it?" she asked. Max pointed at the screen, saying, "Foxy's not showing up anywhere." Vicky walked over and clicked the section showing the west hallway. Max fell over screaming when he saw Foxy, all fired up and in working condition, making a mad dash for the office.

"Close the door!" Max yelled. Vicky leaned near the panel, toying with the buttons. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe he just wants to borrow a cup of sugar." Max cried, "In the name of everything holy, shut the door!!!" Vicky punched the door button. It came down just in the nick of time as Foxy crashed into it with a yelp.

Vicky had such a psychotic smile on her face. It penetrated Max's soul, proof that she enjoyed his terror. After a bit, Vicky opened the door again. "Anyhow, that was mighty rude of you..." she chuckled. "Foxy probably just wanted to give you a hug!" Max groaned, thinking about how stupid she was, though not daring to voice his opinion out loud.

A deep laugh echoed down the east hall. Vicky froze. "It's...it's actually him...." she gasped. Before Max could stop her, the animatronic ran out. "Vicky!" Max cried. But Vicky came right up to Freddy, his baby blue eyes staring at her and his servos noisily clicking.

She seemed a bit anxious now, carefully holding out the new top hat to him. "I made this for you," Vicky whispered. Even though Freddy only outweighed her by 20 pounds, it wouldn't take much for him to kill her. Vicky was agile and quick, yes. But all Freddy had to do was catch her...it'd be all over.

The bear's gears clanked when she got close. Then he carefully took the hat from her paws and smiled faintly at her, replacing the old one on his head. Vicky smiled back, then asked, "Freddy, can you leave the security guard alone this week? Pretty please?" Freddy looked incredibly reluctant at first, but at that moment the power died. Vicky hugged Freddy out of fear, whimpering.

He gently pried her arms off of him, growling a little. "S-sorry..." Vicky stuttered. "Listen. I know what's going on around here. I know who the real killer is, and it's not Max." Freddy stared at her in disbelief. "Please, Freddy?" Vicky begged, giving him the sweetest face she could manage. Freddy seemed to think it over before nodding. He smiled again and shrunk back into the shadows. "Oh wow..." Vicky murmured, giddy as she skipped back to the office.

"Vicky, the power's out. What do I do?" Max asked, alarm in his voice. "I'll tell you what you shouldn't have done!" she snapped. "You needed to use the power supply sparingly and efficiently." Max remarked, "Maybe if a certain somebody told me that earlier, that wouldn't have happened."

"Aw shut up. Hold still and don't you dare move a muscle," Vicky hissed. "Freddy's coming back." Max was shocked. "I thought you told him not to hurt me!" he scolded. Vicky blushed, and said, "Well I never said anything about him scaring the crap out of you!' As if on cue, Freddy appeared in the left door. His glowing eyes illuminated his face and jaws, accompanied by the twinkling of a music box. It was Freddy's theme song, the "Toreador March". Occasionally, it was used whenever he was onstage waving at his fans.

It wasn't quite so cheerful now, having to listen to it in pitch black darkness while the 412 pound bear laughed mockingly at him. Suddenly, the clock chimed six. Freddy looked disappointed, but he gave Vicky a friendly grunt before walking back to his stage. Max felt embarrassed. He didn't like being scared like that for Vicky's amusement.

Vicky waved bye and took off without a word. Max decided to go out for some fresh air. The pizzeria was starting to get too stuffy for him. As he walked a few blocks around the building, he noticed a little boy sitting on a bench. The child's legs were pulled to his chest, and his eyes were red, like he had been crying.

Max, concerned, carefully approached the boy. "Pardon me, young fellow..." he said. "I don't mean to be rude...but where are your parents?" The boy trembled as if he saw a ghost. "I...I don't have any," he sniffled. Max was worried, feeling like it was his duty to ensure the child's safety even outside the pizzeria. "Do you at least have a home?" he asked.

The boy got up and gestured for Max to follow him. After a block or two, they stopped in front of a large shadowy building that had a few broken windows and crumbling steps leading up to a faded green front door. A mounted plaque on the door read, "Lily May's Home For Children". Max wondered why he never noticed this place before. "You live here?" he asked the boy.

The child nodded. "Yes, but I hate it here. I sneak away sometimes," he murmured. "I have to go now." Before the kid could go in, Max said, "Hang on. What's your name?" The boy looked at him. "Tommy," he answered. Then he went inside, softly closing the door behind him. Max felt his heart strings tug. Poor kid, he thought.

After a few moments, Max went back to Freddy's. Upon entering, he saw Freddy looking down at his new hat. The bear turned it over, admiring it. Then the animatronic placed it back on his head, shutting down with a sigh.