I pulled the handbrake with a loud screech typical to old cars and looked down at the radio clock, which indicated that it was already twenty minutes until midnight. I still had some time to burn before starting my first big boy job, but I quickly realized that sitting in a car without any heaters during a late autumn night wasn’t a good idea. With a sigh I double checked if I had all the necessary documents and left the car, closing it tightly. White fog came out of my mouth and my eyes started to water. It must have been below freezing, because the little droplets of water soon turned into ice on my cheeks. 

I looked around one last time, noticing only two other cars in an otherwise empty parking lot, one being an old model purple mustang and the other some green smart without a tire. “God what I’ve gotten myself into” I laughed under my nose, thinking how in reality I was really lucky to get this job. All I had to do was to make sure no one broke into the place for a couple of hours, what would be surprising to happen a short walk from a police station, and sleep rest of the time, for a quite hefty (at least to a broke student) paycheck.

 I started to walk towards the building. It was painted white, with the color already peeling off in stripes. It wasn’t like I remembered, it used to be clean and welcoming, now it only looked dead and a product of its time. Coming back here still felt nostalgic, but the feeling quickly tarnished and all I saw before me was a failing family business. And I do mean literally failing. The old wooden planks holding up the giant banner seemed like they were about to break in half, just asking for an accident. 

 I wiped my nose on the sleeve of my jacket and finally approached the door. It seemed pretty solid up close, and had two big locks visible. “Great” - I thought. - “I’ll be able to just close myself in and there won’t be any problem”. I pulled on the handle and opened the door. I was invited inside by warmth and the smell of pizza. For a second I once again felt like a kid, but that illusion was quickly broken by beer bottles laying everywhere.

  — Who there? — Yelled a voice from inside, it sounded like it belonged to someone after sixty, who smoked cigarettes his whole life.

 — The new one! — I yelled back while closing the doors behind me. 

 — Ahh! Y/N? — I heard a creaking chair and the sound of footsteps belonging to my new coworker.

 — Yep! It’s me! — I answered and the door in front of me opened, showing an older guy with grayish skin and a nearly bald head. As I suspected, he was around sixty, and the strong smell of tobacco attacking my nose confirmed what his favorite pastime activity was. Despite his grim appearance he smiled at me kindly, reaching out to grab my hand.

 — I’m Henry. — We shook hands. His grip was strong. — How are you feeling kid? Ready for the first night?

 — Honestly I can’t wait to start! — I smiled, finally letting go of his hand.

 — I like the spirit! — Henry reached for his jacket. — Don’t burn anything and you’re golden. There should be a packet of unopened chips from yesterday somewhere around here. And the tokens are still in the arcades, just open them with the keys I left on the desk. I don’t think you will get bored quickly.

 — Thank you very much! — I said and took off my jacket, hanging it on the coat hanger that just a moment before housed Henry’s coat, who just disappeared behind the door.

 — Oh! One more thing! — He peeked inside once more — Remember about the office’s doors. They aren’t built like that for no reason. If anyone or anything would want to get to you just close them. This place could withstand a bombing. — His laugh felt genuine, but there was something off about it. — No, but seriously. Don’t get yourself eaten. — He disappeared behind the door with a wink. 

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

 “Well, that was odd” I thought to myself and went deeper into the pizzeria. I found myself in a long corridor, with my new office to the right and the dining hall at the end of it. I looked at my wristwatch which displayed “23:55”. I was instructed to clock in exactly at midnight so I still had five minutes to spare and the dining hall seemed very enticing. “I’ll just take a look” I thought, as I walked forward.

 I knew this place like the back of my hand. It sent me down a memory lane, bringing back the thoughts of my old friends I probably won’t ever see again. Birthdays I had here since I was five, right until the twelfth anniversary of jumping out of my mother’s womb. After that Freddy stopped being cool. I’m not surprised I thought so, this place was terribly designed, dirty and with extremely cheap decorations seemingly randomly placed on the walls and a complete lack of windows. But despite all those problems, everyone visited this place for one reason only. 

 — Freddy. — I whispered, feeling the soft but somewhat sticky fur of the animatronic under my fingertips. He was far bigger than I remembered him. And in the dimly lit pizzeria he looked almost scary. Next to him stood Chica - a chicken or a duck, me and my friends always argued on that point, and a purple bunny called imaginatively - Bonnie. Those machines, programmed twenty years ago bringed a lot of memorable moments and hours of fun to countless children. And now this place has fallen from grace. 

“Oh well, time comes for everything” I summed up while patting Freddy on the shoulder and made my way back to the office. 11.59 - displayed my clock. I took out my worker’s card and sat behind the desk and just as the time changed to midnight I clocked in, confirming my arrival to work today.  

“Well. Welcome to your first job” I congratulated myself and looked around the office. It was just a small back room with two desks, some shelves and a ventilator. I was kind of afraid of the upcoming hours. The chair was uncomfortable and crooked and even though I saw a sofa in the room behind me, it was covered in beer cans and pieces of cigarettes, successfully making the chair a more favorable option. I sighed quietly along with the monotonically spinning fan and reached for the security tablet. It turned on fairly quickly and I could finally look around the whole location. I instantly regretted it because the dark pizzeria looked rather ghastly. Without the buzzling of human voices and laughter of children running around places like this one look wrong. 

 “Just staying here gives me hallucinations” I thought to myself while looking at the place where Freddy was supposed to be. I rubbed my eyes a couple of times and looked again. Chica and Bonnie stood in their proper places but the main star of the show was nowhere to be seen. “Maybe the shadows are playing a trick on me?” I tried to explain this situation to myself. That’s when I realized that the noise I heard for a while, stopped. That quiet hum of the fan. I looked up from the tablet to the second desk. The ventilator wasn’t on.

 Suddenly the hum of a fan started to my right. I slowly turned my head but there was nothing behind the door. But I clearly heard felt padded legs stepping on the wet floor and a quiet screech of pistons. Something was walking this way, and I was just sitting here doing nothing. How did I not notice that before? “Shit. I’ll die in five minutes after starting my new job.” I thought and then I remembered what Henry said about the doors. I slowly reached towards the button, trying to make as little noise as possible. I hoped that while it doesn’t know I’m aware of its presence it won’t attack me. Then I felt the cold and dead plastic under my finger and held in my breath.

 The button quietly clicked and the engine started moving. The doors were closing far slower than I’d hoped to, seconds felt like minutes until the engine screeched and stopped. Brown hand of Freddy didn’t allow the doors to close completely. I saw him slowly duck down and look at me with his cold silver eyes. We both stared at each other, waiting for opponent's move. It didn’t last long and Freddy’s mechanisms buzzed quietly and the door opened. He had done it so effortlessly I instantly started doubting their effectiveness, even if I were able to close them completely

 He slowly entered the office, and all I could do was closes my eyes in terror, hoping for it all to be a bad dream. He creeped closer, moving slower and slower. Suddenly he stopped on the other side of the desk, with a hiss of pistons and screech of cogs suggesting him moving his hand. 

 *Zzziiip* I heard a sound akin to some kind of spring or… a zipper? I knew my death was getting closer.

 — Are you ready for Freddy? — The speaker inside of the animatronic lagged a bit while saying “ready” and “Freddy”.

 *Thump* the desk shook when something heavy hit it.

I slowly opened my eyes…