Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(31)

“Charlie? Are you ok?”

It was John, he had caught her. She tried to nod, but she was shaking. She looked at her arm: there was a cut above the elbow, almost four inches long. It was bleeding freely, and she covered it with her hand, the gaps between her fingers welling over as her own blood leaked through.

“What happened?” It was Marla, rushing up behind her. “Charlie, I’m so sorry, I must have hit a button that caused it to move. Are you okay?”

Charlie nodded, a little less shaky. “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s not that bad.” She moved her arm around experimentally. “See? No nerve damage,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

Carlton, Jessica, and Lamar came hurrying out of the control room.

“We should take her to the E.R.,” Carlton said.

“I’m fine,” Charlie insisted. She stood up, refusing John’s help, and bracing herself on the stage for a moment. She heard her Aunt Jen’s voice in her head. How much blood have you lost? You don’t need to go to a hospital. She could move her arm just fine, and she would not bleed to death from this. She felt dizzy, though.

“Charlie, you look like a ghost,” John said. “We need to get you out of here.”

“Okay,” she said. Her thoughts were scattered, and the injury hurt less than it should have. She took deep breaths as they headed for the exit, grounding herself. John handed her a piece of cloth and she put it to the cut to slow the bleeding.

“Thanks,” she said, and looked at him. Something was missing “Was that your tie?” She said, and he shrugged.

“Do I look like a tie person?”

She grinned. “I thought it looked good on you.”

“Jason!” Marla yelled as they passed the arcade. “Move it or I’m leaving you behind!”

Jason ran to catch up.

“Is Charlie okay?” He said anxiously. Marla caught her breath and put her arm around him.

“She’s fine.” She reassured him.

They walked briskly through the same corridor that they entered through. Jason looked back as he was being guided out, studying the pictures on the wall once more before losing sight of them. The colored lights from the stage were fading and the flashlight was throwing shapes and shadows on everything, making the drawings difficult to see, but Jason could swear he saw the figures moving in the pictures.

They all hurried back through the empty building and out to the parking lot, not keeping watch for the guard. When they made it out to the car, Lamar, who had grabbed the big flashlight, flipped it on and shone it at Charlie’s arm. She looked down at the cut.

“Do you need stitches?” Marla said. “I am so sorry, Charlie.”

“We were all being careless, it’s not your fault,” Charlie said. She knew she sounded annoyed, but she didn’t mean to: her voice was tight and clipped with pain. The shock had worn off, but that meant the wound had begun to hurt.

“It’s fine,” Charlie said, and after a long moment the others gave in somewhat reluctantly.

“We should at least get you some stuff to clean that up and bandage it,” Marla said, wanting to do something to atone, however small.

“There’s a 24-hour drugstore just off the main road,” Carlton offered.

“Charlie, why don’t you go with Marla, and I’ll drive your car back to the motel?” Jessica said.

“I’m fine,” Charlie protested half-heartedly, but she handed Jessica the keys. “You’re a good driver, right?”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “People from New York know how to drive, Charlie.”

John lingered a moment as Charlie was getting in to Marla’s car. She smiled at him.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He looked at her like there was something more he wanted to say, but just nodded and left.

“Okay,” Marla said. “To the drugstore!”

Charlie twisted in her seat to look at Jason. “Did you have fun?” She asked.

“The games don’t work,” he said, obviously preoccupied. The drugstore was only a few minutes away.

“You stay in the car.” Marla commanded as they pulled to a stop.

“Don’t leave me out here,” Jason pleaded.

“I told you to stay,” she repeated, a little confused by the fear in his voice. He didn’t answer, and she and Charlie headed inside.

As soon as they were gone, Jason pulled the drawing out of his pocket. He held it up under the faint lights of the parking lot to examine. It had not changed back: Bonnie the Bunny was reaching toward a child, who was facing away from him. Curious, Jason scraped at the crayon lines with his fingernail; the wax came off easily, leaving its trace on the paper.



As soon as Marla passed into the florescent-lit, air-controlled drugstore, she sighed and put her hands to her temples.

“Oh, he’s such a little brat,” she said.

“I like him,” Charlie said honestly. She was still using John’s tie to stanch the bleeding, and now in brighter light she peeled it back to see the cut. The bleeding had almost stopped; it was not as bad as it had first appeared, though the tie was irreparably ruined. “Hey,” she said. “How come you brought Jason, anyway?”

Marla didn’t answer right away, setting her sights on the first aid aisle and heading for it.