Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(10)

“No, something isn’t right about the architecture.” She took several steps back, trying to see the whole of it.

“Something is definitely not right,” she repeated. “It’s bigger on the outside.”

“Bigger on the outside?” Charlie repeated, sounding puzzled.

“I mean there’s a big difference between where the inside wall is and where the outside wall is. Look.” Jessica ran along a length of wall between where two stores would have been.

“There would have been a store here and a store there.” John pointed to the obvious, not understanding the problem.

“But there’s something in the middle!” Jessica exclaimed, beating her hands against an empty portion of the wall. “This part juts out into the parking lot like the stores on each side, but there’s no way into it.”

“You’re right,” Charlie started walking toward Jessica, studying the walls. “There should be another entrance here.”

“And,” Jessica dropped her voice so that only Charlie could hear her. “About the same size as Freddy’s, don’t you think?” Charlie’s eyes widened and she took a quick step back from Jessica. “What are you two whispering about?” Carlton stepped closer.

“We’re talking about you.” Jessica said sharply, and they walked into one of the vacant department stores that seemed to sandwich the sealed space. “Come on,” she said, “Let’s take a look.” They started combing the wall as a group, clustered around the tiny light.

Charlie was not sure what to hope for. Aunt Jen had warned her about coming back. She didn’t encourage Charlie to skip the memorial, not directly, but she wasn’t pleased that she was returning to Hurricane.

Just be careful, she had said. Some things, some memories, are best left undisturbed.

Is that why you kept Dad’s house? Charlie thought now. Is that why you kept paying for it, left it untouched, like some kind of shrine, but never visiting?

“Hey” John was gesturing wildly, running inside to catch up to the rest of them. “Hide!” The light was out in the hall again bobbing up and down, and it was coming closer. Charlie glanced around. They were already too deep inside the massive store to get out in time and there seemed to be nowhere to hide.

“Here, here!” Jessica whispered. There was a break in the wall beside a rig of scaffolding, and they hurried into it, squeezing past stacks of open boxes and sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling.

They made their way down what appeared to be a makeshift hallway, just on the other side of the department store wall. It was really more like an alley; it was incongruous with the rest of the mall, not shiny and new but dank and musty. One wall was made of the same concrete as the outside of the building, though it was rough and unfinished, and the other was exposed brick, faded and smoothed with age, the mortar crumbling, leaving chinks and holes. Heavy wooden shelves of cleaning equipment stood against the wall, listing to the side, their boards sinking under the weight of old paint cans and mysterious buckets. Something was dripping from uncovered pipes overhead, leaving puddles that they all stepped carefully around. A mouse scuttled by, almost running over Carlton’s foot. Carlton made a strangled sound, hand over his mouth.

They crouched down behind one of the wooden shelving units, pressing up against the wall. Charlie doused the light, and waited.

Charlie took shallow breaths, perfectly still, watching and wishing she had picked a better position to freeze into. After a few minutes her legs started to feel numb under her, and Carlton was so close that she could smell the light, pleasant scent of his shampoo. “That’s nice.” She whispered.

“Thanks,” Carlton said, knowing immediately what she was referring to. “It comes in Ocean Breeze and Tropical Paradise. I prefer Ocean Breeze, but it dries the scalp.”

“Hush!” John hissed.

Charlie wasn’t sure why she was so worried. It was just a night guard, and at the worst they would be asked to leave, maybe yelled at a little. She had an overblown aversion to getting in trouble.

The bobbing light came closer. Charlie was suddenly acutely aware of her body, holding every muscle motionless. Suddenly she could make out a thin figure leaning in from the great room outside. He shone his light in a long beam down the hallway, sweeping it up and down the walls. He’s got us, Charlie thought, but inexplicably, he turned and went, apparently satisfied.

They waited another few minutes, but there was nothing. He was gone. They all moved slowly out of their crouched positions, stretching limbs that had gone to sleep. Carlton shook one foot vigorously until he could stand on it. Charlie looked down at Jessica who was still hunched over, as if frozen in time.

“Jessica, are you okay?” She whispered.

Jessica looked up, smiling.

“You won’t believe this.”

She was pointing at the wall, and Charlie leaned over to see. There, etched in the worn brick, were clumsy letters, almost illegible in a child’s handiwork:

Carlton smells like feet.

“You have to be kidding me.” John whispered in awe, turning to face the wall and placing both hands against it. “I recognize these bricks.” He laughed. “These are the same bricks!” His smile faded. “They didn’t tear it down; they built around it.”

“It’s still here!” Jessica unsuccessfully tried to keep her voice down. “There has to be a way in,” she added, her eyes wide with an almost childish excitement.