Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(50)

At Carlton’s house they filed in through the front door. Charlie looked back in time to see the police car, driving on by. He was following us. As they climbed the steps, John leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“I didn’t realize how rich they were when I was a kid!” He said, and she stifled a laugh. It was true, the house was enormous. It was three stories high, and it sprawled out into the woods that surrounded it, so wide that Charlie thought there must have been whole rooms where all you could see out the window were trees. Clay showed them to the living room, which looked well-used, the furniture mismatched and the rugs dark and durable, the kind that were made to take stains.

“Carlton’s mom—who you can call Betty now—is asleep,” he said. “The soundproofing is pretty good, just don’t shout or crash around.”

They chorused promises, and he nodded, satisfied, and vanished through a doorway. They dispersed themselves over the furniture, sitting on couches and chairs. Charlie sat on the rug between Jessica’s chair and Lamar’s. She wanted them all to stay close together. John sat down beside her and gave a little smile.

“Did we get pranked?” Marla asked.

“I guess, maybe. I’m not sure what else would explain it,” Jessica said listlessly, staring into the empty fireplace. “I mean, none of us even knows each other that well, not really, maybe he would do something like that.” They all shifted uncomfortably. It was true; they had been behaving as if their time apart were just a little break, as if they could just fill each other in on what they had been up to, and then it would be just like it was. As if their group had never split up. But ten years was too long for it to be true, and deep down, everyone knew it. Charlie darted her eyes at John. She felt a little embarrassed, but she could not have expressed why.

Clay came back in, carrying a tray of steaming mugs, and a bag of little marshmallows.

“Here you are!” He said jovially, “hot chocolate for everyone, even me.” He set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat in a battered green armchair that seemed to fit him like a coat, as accustomed to his body as he was to its form. They reached forward and took the cups; only Jason reached for the marshmallows. Clay looked around from face to face.

“Look,” he said. “I know you don’t believe me, but Carlton does things like this—although I have to admit, this is probably the weirdest. It’s not right, making you relive all that stuff from when you were kids.” He stared into his mug for a long moment. “I need to have another talk with him,” he said quietly. “Believe me, my son has a strange sense of humor,” he went on. “You know for high school, we sent him to a place in the next town over; no one knew him. He managed to convince his classmates and his teachers that he had a twin brother, at the school, for the first month of class. I don’t know how on earth he managed it, but I didn’t find out until he got tired of the act and I started getting calls from school that one of my sons had gone missing.”

Charlie smiled weakly, but she was not convinced. This was different.

“This is different,” Marla said, as if reading Charlie’s thoughts. “Jason saw him disappear, he was terrified. It’s cruel, if it’s a prank.” Marla shook her head with anger and scratched her nails against the porcelain cup. “If it’s a prank,” She repeated in a softer tone. She looked at Charlie, her face stormy, and Charlie knew that if Carlton had in fact set all of this up, Marla would never speak to him again. The happy reunion was over.

“Yes,” Clay said. “I know. But he doesn’t see it that way.” He took a sip of cocoa, searching for words. “The twins, they had totally different personalities. Shaun was this outgoing, cheerful guy. He was on the debate team. He played soccer, for goodness’ sake! Carlton had never gotten near a sports game without being forced. I don’t know how he kept it up.”

“Still,” Marla said, but she sounded less convinced.

“The worst part was,” Clay went on, talking more to himself now than to the teenagers, “Shaun had a girlfriend. She really liked him too; but he was just playing the part. Poor girl had been dating a guy who didn’t even exist. I think he was surprised when he realized how upset people were. He gets carried away, and just assumes everyone is having as much fun as he is.”

Charlie looked at John and he met her glance anxiously. We don’t know each other, not really.

“Maybe he did set it up,” she said aloud.

“Maybe,” Jessica echoed.

“I saw him!” Jason said loudly. Before anyone could respond, he had stormed out of the room, disappearing through a doorway. Marla stood automatically, and moved to follow him, but Clay, put up a hand.

“Let him go,” he said. “He needs some time to himself. And I want to talk to the rest of you. He set his mug down, and leaned forward. “I know you were just kidding around, but I don’t want to hear you kids joking about Freddy Fazbear’s. You know, I wasn’t the chief back then, I was still a detective, and I was working on those disappearances. To this day, it was the worst thing I’ve ever had to see. It’s not something to joke about.” He looked at Charlie. His gray eyes were hard, and the lines of his face were immobile; he was no longer the friendly father-figure, but the police chief, staring as if he could see right through her. Charlie had a sudden urge to confess, but she had nothing to confess to.