Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(66)

Charlie closed her eyes, trying again to remember. She pictured the restaurant, trying to see it not as they had the last few days, but as it had been years before. The lights were bright, it was full of people. “It used to get hot, stuffy,” she said. “In summer it smelled like pizza and old French fry grease, and sweaty kids, and my dad would say…” That’s it. “He would say, ‘whose brilliant idea was it to put a skylight in a closet?’” She finished triumphantly, relieved. She could picture it, the little supply room with the open roof. The two of them would sneak away and sit in there for a few minutes, enjoying the small stream of fresh air that filtered down from outside.

“So that’s it, let’s get to the roof,” John said, breaking Charlie’s drift into memory.

“What roof?” Marla said, studying the top of the closed hall. She was no longer in a full-blown panic, reassured by evidence that Jason was still alive, but her anxiety was still palpable. Her glance darted constantly around the little group, as if her little brother might suddenly appear from the shadows.

“It’s been covered over, like everything else.” Lamar chimed in.

“Maybe not,” Charlie said. “The roof of the mall is pretty high. I bet there’s a crawl space at least.”

“A crawl space?” John said excitedly. “You mean a crawl space between the roof of Freddy’s and the roof of the mall? Up there?” He stared up into the darkness for a moment. “A crawl space?” He repeated, his voice a little meeker.

Charlie was busy studying the ceiling of the corridor, measuring it in her head against what they had seen of the outside of the building. It was different, she was sure of it.

“This isn’t the roof to the mall; it’s not high enough,” she said, feeling a spark of encouragement. She set off briskly down the hall, not waiting for the others. They followed, trailing behind her, and the space above her suddenly illuminated as Lamar caught up and cast the beam of the flashlight upward. Charlie was going back and forth, looking from wall to ceiling and back again, and trying to picture the space outside.

“The ceiling of this hall is probably level with the roof of Freddy’s.” Jessica’s voice came from behind Charlie, who startled briefly; she had been so intent on her pursuit she had lost track of her friends.

“We have to get up there,” Charlie said, and turned back to the group, expectant. They looked blankly at her for a second, then Lamar’s arm moved reflexively, like he was about to raise his hand. He caught himself and cleared his throat instead.

“I hate to point out the obvious, but,” Lamar said, gesturing. About ten feet ahead of them, a maintenance ladder rested against the old brick. Charlie grinned and hurried to the ladder, waving for John to follow. They grabbed it together; it was heavy, metal and covered with spatters of paint, but it was manageable to carry. When Charlie had a firm grip on one side of the ladder, she turned her face back to the ceiling, searching.

“There is probably a hole, or a hatch, or something,” she said.

“A hole, or a hatch, or something?” John echoed with a half-smile as he lifted the other end of the ladder.

“Do you have a better idea? Now, come on.” She jerked the ladder forward, so hard John stumbled and almost fell.

They moved slowly. With only one flashlight, they could not see where they were going and examine the walls at the same time, so every few yards they stopped, and Lamar ran the light back and forth across the place where the brick wall met the dripping ceiling of the makeshift hallway. Though it slowed them down, Charlie was grateful for the breaks; the ladder, industrial metal, was heavy. She could have asked the others to switch off, but it felt essential, somehow, that she be part of the physical process. She wanted to help.

Marla’s agitation was growing as they went, and after a few rounds of move-and-scan she started calling Jason’s name softly.

“Jason! Jason, can you hear me?”

“He’s inside,” John said shortly, “He can’t hear you.” His voice was strained with the weight of the ladder—he had the wider end—and he sounded almost snappish. Marla glared at him.

“You don’t know that.”

“Marla, stop it,” Jessica said. “We’re doing everything we can.”

Marla didn’t answer. A few minutes later, they came to the end of the alley.

“So now what?” John said.

“I don’t know,” Charlie said, puzzled. “I was positive that we would find something.”

“Is that the way life usually works for you?” John teased, raising an eyebrow at her.

From down the hall, Lamar let out a triumphant cry.

“Found it!”

Marla took off toward him at a run, and Jessica followed a little more cautiously behind, wary of obstacles in the dark.

Charlie gave John a wink then picked up the ladder again. He hurried to lift his side, and they lugged it back the way they came.

When Charlie and John caught up to the rest of the group, all three were looking up at the ceiling. Charlie mimicked their posture; sure enough, there was a square trap door, big enough for an adult to pass through, its edges barely visible in the darkness. Without speaking, they set up the ladder; it was perhaps ten feet high, and rose close enough to the ceiling to access the door easily. Marla climbed up first, as Lamar steadied the ladder on one side, Jessica on the other.