Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(69)

They looked out at her from the dark, deep-socketed, shadowed eyes peering down from the shelves all around her. She stared, unable to look away.

“Charlie, come on.” Marla was there, kneeling anxiously over her. She grabbed Charlie’s arm again and pulled until Charlie was upright again. Charlie still did not have her breath back, and as she inhaled thinly, she began to cry. Marla hugged her tightly, and Charlie let her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Marla whispered, as Charlie tried to calm herself, looking around the store room for distraction.

It’s not real, she told herself. They were in a store room, just a closet, and these were all spare parts. The air was thick with dust, and it tickled at her nose and throat as it poured off the shelves, still unrestful. The rest of the group dropped through the skylight one by one; John came last, landing in the middle of the room with a thump. Jessica sneezed.

“You okay?” John said as soon as he saw Charlie.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Charlie disentangled herself from Marla and crossed her arms, still collecting herself.

“You know we can’t get back up through there.” John said, looking up at the skylight.

“We just need something to stand on,” Charlie said. “Or we can climb a shelf.”

Jessica shook her head.

“No, look at the way it’s opened.”

Charlie looked. The skylight opened downward, so the pane of glass sloped in at a gentle angle, just enough to have let them through. To get out, they would have to—

“Oh,” she said. There would be no getting out. However close they got to the skylight, the pane of glass would always be in the way, sticking out into the precise space they needed to pass through. If anyone tried to get a grip on the roof, they would have to lean so far over the glass that they would fall from the ladder.

“We might be able to break the glass,” John started. “But the metal frame is going to be dangerous to climb over, even more dangerous with shards of broken glass.” He fell silent and thought it through again, his face grim.

“It doesn’t matter,” Charlie said. “We’ll find another way out. Let’s start looking.”

They peered cautiously out into the hallway; Lamar had turned off the flashlight, but it was easy enough to see their surroundings now with the light from the closet seeping into the hall. At least nothing’s dripping from the ceiling, Charlie thought, and wiped her hands on her pants again. The floor was black and white tile, as glossy as if it had just been polished. There were children’s drawings on the walls, rustling with the air from the open skylight. Charlie remained motionless, more than aware of how much noise she had just made. Does it know we’re here? She thought, realizing as she did that by “it” she meant the building itself. It felt as if Freddy’s were conscious of their presence, as if it reacted to them like a living, breathing thing. She reached out to brush her fingers against its wall, tracing lightly as if she were petting it. The plaster was still and cold, inanimate, and Charlie pulled her hand back, and wondered what Freddy’s would do.

They wound around one corner, and then another, then stopped at the entrance to Pirate’s Cove, hanging back from the doorway. Pirate’s Cove, I have my bearings again. Charlie gazed at the little stage, no longer lit, and the curtain that hid its sole performer.

A few small lights flickered on the sides of the stage, then came on, illuminating the space with a pale grey glow. Charlie looked around and saw Lamar standing by the doorway with his hand on a switch, having just flipped it.

“We don’t have a choice,” he said defensively, gesturing to his flashlight: its light was failing. Charlie nodded resignedly, and Lamar switched off the dying flashlight.

“I want to take a look in this control room,” Marla said, pointing to the small door nearby. “Lamar, come with me. The rest of you try the other one; if we each take one set of cameras we can see the whole restaurant. If Jason’s in this place, we’ll see him.”

“I don’t think we should split up,” Charlie said.

“Wait,” said Lamar, and handed John the dead light, freeing his hands. From his pockets he produced two walkie-talkies; large black boxy things Charlie had only seen attached to police officers’ belts.

“Where did you get those?” She asked, and he smiled mysteriously.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” he said.

“He stole them from Carlton’s house.” Jessica stated plainly, taking one from his hand and examining it.

“No, they were in the garage. Mrs. Burke told me where to find them. They work, I tested.”

Mrs. Burke knew we would come here? Charlie thought. Marla just nodded; maybe she had already known, or maybe nothing could surprise her anymore.

“Come on,” Marla said, and walked between the tables in front of Pirate’s Cove, careful not to disturb anything. Lamar leaned over Jessica to show her how to use the walkie-talkie.

“It’s this button,” he said, indicating it, and then he took off after Marla.

After a startled moment, the rest of them followed. Something clutched in Charlie’s stomach, the reality that both Jason and Carlton might truly be in danger seizing her. It was not that she had forgotten, but while they were outside, trying to solve the puzzles, it was possible to gain some distance from what was happening. Charlie watched Marla, stalking toward the control room with a bleak authority.