The Replacement

1

Fifteen years. That was how long I had remained undisturbed in the spare storage room located at the very back of the basement hallway.

I had begun to think that nothing would ever come and rupture through the blanket of bleak nothingness that had long ago taken over my existence.

But I was wrong.

I was sitting in the darkest corner of the room, blankly staring at the vague outlines of boxes that surrounded me. Meaningless thoughts were beginning to drift in and out of my head when suddenly, I heard something.

The squeaks and clicks of mechanical joints had become audible. Squeaks, clicks, and clunky footsteps.

At first, I was sure that I was imagining it.

The only sounds I ever heard were the whines and groans of my barely functioning parts, and an extremely muffled version of whatever was currently happening on the floor above me.

Nobody had gone down the stairs in years, why would now be any different?

The locks on the door clacked as they were undone.

Slowly, the door creaked open. A small strip of light cut through the darkness, illuminating a portion of the dusty tile flooring.

I definitely wasn't imagining things.

After a few more seconds, the door swung open all the way, hitting the wall with a dull thud.

Somebody was standing in the doorway, backlit by the fluorescent lighting that was now completely spilling in from the hallway.

They reached for the light switch on the wall, which didn't turn on.

If all of the mechanical sounds didn't already confirm that they were an animatronic, then their stiff, jerky movements certainly did, alongside the soft glow of their irises.

After letting out a small sigh, they stepped further into the room, the door behind them closing a little under halfway.

They began looking around for something.

I watched in silence. I wasn't sure if it was because I was still in shock, or because I just wasn't yet sure what to say.

Though their features were slightly fuzzy because of the darkness, it was still clear who I was looking at.

A stark white face, red-painted nose, lips, and cheeks; doe eyes, pigtails...

It was my replacement.

I had never actually seen her before. The workers had carted me off and dumped me into the spare storage room well over a week before she arrived. But there was no denying it, the new Circus Baby was standing before me and didn't even know it.

As much as I disliked the fact that I had been replaced, I couldn't deny that she was definitely an improvement on my clunky old self. She had a much wider range of motion, she was sleeker, and far cuter than I ever was...

Was it strange to think that?

I almost didn't care if it was.

She was still looking around, obviously unsure of where exactly whatever she was looking for was.

I finally decided to say something.

Because I had gone so long without using it, my voice box crackled rather loudly when I attempted to speak.

She jolted.

"Oh Scott—!"

"Looking for something?"