Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(14)

A crash sounded from back the way they came, a cascading, clanging noise ringing out and filling the whole space. John and Charlie froze, meeting each other’s eyes in sudden panic. Jessica dropped the curtain and leapt off the stage, bumping into Charlie and knocking the light out of her hands.

“Where’s the way out?!” she exclaimed, and John came over to help. They hurriedly searched the walls and Charlie chased the light beam spiraling across the floor. Just as they were all back to their feet, Carlton came trotting in.

“I knocked over a bunch of pots in the kitchen!” Carlton exclaimed, an apology amid the panic.

“I thought you were with us,” Charlie said.

“I wanted to see if there was any food left,” Carlton said, not making it clear if he’d found anything or not.

“Seriously?” John laughed.

“That guard might have heard,” Jessica said anxiously. “We have to get out of here.”

They started for the door, and Jessica started running. The rest took off after her, picking up speed as they reached the hallway until they were racing, as though something were behind them.

“Run, run!” John called out, and they all burst into giggles, the panic feigned, but the urgency real.

They squeezed back through the door one by one, and pushed it shut with the same painful squeal, Carlton and John leaning on it until it sealed. They all took hold of the shelf, hefting it back into place and replacing the tools so that it appeared undisturbed.

“Look good?” Jessica said, and John tugged her arm, guiding her away.

They made their way quickly but carefully back the way they came using only Carlton’s penlight, back through the empty hallways and the open atrium to the parking lot. The guard’s light did not appear again.

“Little anticlimactic.” Carlton said with disappointment, checking back one more time in hopes they were being chased.

“Are you kidding?” Charlie said as she went to her car, already pulling the keys free from her pocket. She felt as though something locked deep inside her had been disturbed, and she was not sure if that was a good thing or bad.

“That was fun!” John exclaimed, and Jessica laughed.

“That was terrifying!” She cried.

“It can be both,” Carlton said, grinning widely. Charlie began to laugh, and John joined in.

“What?” Jessica said. Charlie shook her head, still laughing a little.

“It’s just, we’re all exactly the same as we were. I mean we’re totally different and older and everything. But we’re the same. You and Carlton sound exactly like you did when we were six.”

“Right,” Jessica said, rolling her eyes again, but John nodded.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “And so does Jessica, she just doesn’t like to admit it.” He glanced back at the mall. “Is everybody sure that guard didn’t see us?” He said.

“We can outrun him now,” Carlton said reasonably, his hand resting on the car.

“I guess,” John said, but he did not sound convinced.

“You haven’t changed either, you know,” Jessica said with a certain satisfaction. “Stop looking for problems where there aren’t any.”

“Still,” John said, glancing back again. “We should get out of here, I don’t want to push our luck.”

“See you all tomorrow then?” Jessica said as they parted ways. Carlton gave a little wave over his shoulder.

Charlie’s heart sank a little as Jessica settled herself into the passenger seat, tidily buckling herself in. She had not been looking forward to this. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Jessica, just that being alone with her was uncomfortable. She still wasn’t much more than a stranger. Yet Charlie was still exhilarated from the night’s adventure, and the lingering adrenaline gave her a new confidence. She smiled at Jessica. After tonight, they suddenly had something very much in common.

“Do you know which way the motel is?” She asked, and Jessica nodded, and reached for the purse down at her feet. It was small and black with a long strap, and on the drive to the construction site Charlie had already seen her remove a lip gloss, a mirror, a pack of breath mints, a sewing kit, and a tiny hairbrush. Now she pulled out a small notebook and pen. Charlie smiled.

“Sorry, how much stuff do you have in that thing?” She said, and Jessica looked at her with a grin.

“The secrets of The Purse must not be disclosed,” she said playfully, and they both laughed. Jessica started reading Charlie the directions, and Charlie obeyed, turning left and right without paying much attention to her surroundings.



Jessica had already checked in so they went straight to their room, a small beige box of a room with two double beds covered in shiny brown spreads. Charlie set her bags on the bed closest to the door, and Jessica went to the window.

“As you can see, I splurged on the room with the view,” she said, and flung the curtains open dramatically to reveal two dumpsters and a dried-out hedge. “I want to have my wedding here.”

“Right.” Charlie said, amused. Jessica’s prim demeanor and fashion-model looks made it easy to forget that she was smart as well. As children she remembered being slightly intimidated every time they got together to play, then remembering after the first few minutes how much she liked her. She wondered if it was hard for her to make friends, looking the way she did, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you could really ask someone.