LIV — william afton

The loud sound of my alarm blared in my ears, waking me up from the four hours of sleep I had gotten. I sat up and stretched, trying my best to drag myself out of bed. I had to start making breakfast for Alina, my younger sister, who was turning seven today. Every year it was my job to make confetti pancakes for Alina’s breakfast. But making the batter was pretty complex, and Alina is an early riser, unlike me, so I have no choice but to wake up at the crack of dawn to start making them.

I put on my slippers and tip toed downstairs, then turned on the lights and started gathering ingredients for the batter. It usually took me a little over an hour, and Alina usually woke up around eight, but on her birthday, more like seven-thirty. She was eager, and she was a child, how could I possibly blame her. When the sun started rising, I was just about done. My dad and I decorated the house together last night, so everything was perfect for Alina. Her birthday party this year is at Fredbear’s Family Diner, where she’s been begging to go ever since she went with her friend Lila. My dad has been so hesitant only because of the missing children, but it was her birthday, we both knew she’d be safe, and the look on her face was worth it all.

I started making the pancakes, and almost immediately after the first one was done, I heard Alina start running down the stairs. “Pancakes!” She exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. I held out her plate with the first pancake on it, like I usually do, but she ignored it, hugging me first. As she usually does.

“Oh, thank you Olivia!” She exclaimed. I smiled into her hair while hugging her back.

“Happy birthday, kiddo,” I mumbled to her. When she released, she grabbed her plate and took the syrup and whipped cream from the counter to put on her pancakes. “How’s it feel to be seven?” I asked.

“Great!” She said, “I feel taller! I think I grew an inch overnight!”

I laughed at her statement, almost every year she says that. My dad came in not too much later, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Happy seventh Lina,” he said to her with a smile, sitting next to her. “You think you grew, huh?” He questioned with a smirk.

Alina stood up, arching her back proudly. “I know I did!” She said with confidence.

My dad squinted, then relaxed, ruffling her hair. “I think you did, too.”

I served the pancakes until there was no batter left. My dad and I only ate pancakes on this very occasion. Alina’s birthday was one of my favorite days out of the year. I like it more than my own birthday. But this year, it would be a little different. I was excited for Fredbear’s, I had never been there before but I did know that it’s extremely popular with little kids now. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Alina’s face.

After breakfast, Alina took her time opening the gifts me and my dad got for her. I bought her a small, soft pink dress with little white flower designs on it. She had been wanting that dress for weeks, and I finally pulled the trigger on it. I couldn’t have been happier watching her open it. And when it was time to start getting ready for the party, which was scheduled to start at 11:30, she decided to wear it.

“How does it look?” She asked me after she tried it on, walking into my room unannounced like she always does. She paired it with her white ballet flats, and she looked darling. I smiled at her, standing up and walking over to her.

“You look beautiful!” I told her.

“Can you do my hair?” She held out a hair tie and a silk, white ribbon that used to be mine.

“Of course I’ll do your hair,” I said, taking the two bands out of her hand. She sat down on my bed and I did one solid braid in the back, tying it up with the hair tie and adding the silk ribbon afterwards. She spun around, giggling as she did so. “Go show Dad,” I told her. She nodded, then left to go downstairs. I stayed in my room, deciding what to wear as well. It didn’t take long for me to get dressed, my style was pretty bland, especially for a child’s birthday party.

On the way to Fredbear’s, Alina was non-stop talking about her excitement. There was already a crowd of children before we got there. Alina practically jumped out of the car and rushed over to all her friends. They were surrounding two animatronics, the one and only FredBear, and the another named SpringBonnie. I heard about these animatronics, they were why this place was so popular, no one else had this type of technology. The owners must be geniuses, that’s what I thought, at least.

The party was going great. Alina was having the time of her life, all of them were. They were playing all sorts of games with the animatronics, and I could tell Alina had taken a strong liking to SpringBonnie. They sang a few different birthday songs for her, even had her up on stage at one point. Eventually, the pizza came, and the kids had calmed down quite a lot. The pizza really shut them up.

“You know where I could find the bathroom?” I asked my dad, who had been here a few times before.

“It’s behind the stage, I’m pretty sure,” he said.

I sighed and started looking for the bathroom. For such a small diner it did have a lot of rooms, none of which labeled ‘bathroom.’

“Stop, please! Please, let me go!”

I walked past a room, hearing child-like screams coming from inside. I stopped in the middle of the hallway, jerking my head to the right. There was the smallest window, but inside looked pitch-black. Without any hesitation I tried opening the door, but it was locked. Before I knew it I was banging on it.

“Open this door!” I demanded. “Now!”

The door opened, and my heart stopped when I saw SpringBonnie, standing right in front of me with a bloody knife in his hands. The screams had stopped, and I realized what had happened, because when I looked past the terrifying animatronic, I saw a little boy’s deceased body, blood spewing out of him. I gasped and covered my mouth in horror, unable to tear my eyes away.

Within what felt like seconds, SpringBonnie pulled me inside, locking the door. He turned on the lights, which didn’t do much, I could only see a little more than I could before. “What did you do?!” I asked in a shaky voice, my eyes wide with shock. I slowly walked over to the boy, then fell to my knees before him, beginning to sob. He was so young.

“Aww, don’t cry!” I heard SpringBonnie’s voice from behind me, but it wasn’t that friendly, automated voice that both those animatronic have. This was a human’s voice. “He never had a chance anyway.”

I turned around to look at him, and watched him slowly take off the head of the animatronic suit, revealing a wicked smile. His manic eyes were settled on me, staring at me as if I were his next meal.

“Who are you?” I asked him.

“Don’t worry about that,” he softly spoke, coming closer to me. “Come on, stand up.” The knife was still in his hand, and I had nothing to defend myself with. I stood up, facing him, and he looked down at me. “I can tell you’re scared,” he said, a smile spreading across his face.

“Are-Are you going to kill me?” I questioned with a shaky voice, backing away from him as I spoke, until I ran into the wall behind me.

“Well that depends,” he said, the grin still on his face, “are you going to talk?” He tilted his head to the side as he played with the knife in his hand that was uncomfortably close to my face.

I stayed silent. I had no idea what to say, because if I were to escape this horrible situation, the right thing to do would be to tell somebody, and get this man arrested for killing a child, and probably the four other missing children. “Did you kill all those children?” I finally asked. “The one’s that went missing? Was that you?” I didn’t want to believe it was him, but it all made so much sense.

He walked closer to me, so close that there was hardly any space between our bodies. “Bingo!” He exclaimed. “You’re so smart, aren’t you?”

My heart was beating so rapidly that I swore he could hear it. I looked at the bloody knife that he was still holding in his hand, he could stab me at any moment, these very thoughts could possibly be my last. “I won’t tell anyone,” I quickly said. “Just, please, don’t hurt me.”

He laughed under his breath, his eyes still not leaving mine, paralyzing me. I couldn’t move, it was like he had me under some kind of spell. The dark, four walled room was making me nervous, not to mention the deceased boy three feet away from us, his blood still oozing onto the floor. “What’s your name?” He asked.

I knew that the stupidest decision would be to tell him my real name. So I answered with the first name that popped up in my head, “Kendra,” I lied.

“You little liar,” he smirked, shaking his head. “C’mon, tell me your real name.”

I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat start to form. I wiped my sweaty hands onto my jeans, and sucked in a deep breath. “Fine,” I sighed, “it’s Jessica,” I lied again.

His smile immediately dropped into a deadpan, then shook his head in disbelief. Suddenly, I felt the cold, metal texture of the knife against my neck, making my eyes go wide. I gasped, then held my breath, terrified that at any moment he would slit my throat. “I really don’t want to hurt such a pretty face,” he whispered, brushing away some hair that was covering my face with his free hand, “but if you’re going to make this difficult, then I don’t think I have a choice.”

I didn’t understand how he could see right through me. But I’ve never been that good a liar, and it’s not like I’ve had much practice, because I hate lying. I’ve always been an honest person, but clearly he wasn’t. “It’s Olivia,” I finally answered, looking down with shame. I figured that there was no point in lying any longer when he clearly could tell when I was.

He smiled again, sighing with, what sounded like, relief. He lifted my chin with his index finger, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Ah,Olivia,” when he said my name it felt like a violation. “May I call you Liv?” He asked me.

“Nobody calls me that,” I whispered. The knife was still pressing against my throat, it was too much to bare.

“Then I guess it’ll just me my special name for you,” he whispered, “isn’t that fun? Liv?”

I nodded my head slowly, figuring I didn’t have a choice. There was zero point in arguing with a man who had a knife to my throat. I could feel the tears welding in my eyes, I had never been this afraid before. And from the look on his face, he clearly enjoyed seeing me suffer. Though from first sight, you wouldn’t think this man was a serial killer. He was still young, not as young as me, but looked like he was in his mid-20′s, too young to already be killing people. especially children. His handsome face was dangerous, he could lure you anywhere, you wouldn’t think for a second he was insane until you saw that look in his eyes. Those terrifyingly beautiful blue eyes that paralyzed me. I felt like I couldn’t move when he stared at me.

Finally, he took the knife away from my throat. I sighed with relief, immediately grasping my neck with my hand. “You’ve seen far too much by now,” he told me, shaking his head. “How can I possibly trust you?”

“I promise,” I said, “I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me. I told you my name.”

He just laughed at me, but stepped even closer. “Oh, you’ll have to earn my trust, Liv,” he whispered, “which is why I have to do this,” he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Do wha--”

***

I woke up in a dark room with a raging headache. I groaned, sitting up from the floor I had been laying on. The floor was dirty, dusty, I had gotten it all over my clothes and hands. I tried standing up, but that’s when I realized my ankle’s were chained to the wall. At that very moment I remembered what had happened. The young man in the SpringBonnie costume had killed that little boy, and now he was going to kill me. I struggled to escape from the chains, but it was useless.

I was now sitting up against the wall. The lamp above me flickered, it was the only source of light in the room. It was scary in here, cold, dark, I was terrified. I could feel my stomach grumble, I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and who knows how long I had been knocked out for. I looked at my wrist to check the time, but my watch was gone. He must’ve taken it off for that very reason. I shivered, hugging my knees. My shoes were off, he must’ve taken those too.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in came the same man, grinning at me. He wasn’t wearing his costume anymore, now he was wearing a regular t-shirt and jeans, only the t-shirt had blood on it. I guessed that it wasn’t his. He was caring a to-go box in his hand, along with a water bottle.

“Oh, goodie!” He exclaimed, “you’re awake.” He set down the box and the water on the floor next to me, then pushed them towards me. “I got this for you,” he told me, “it’s fresh from Fredbear’s, I’m sure you’ll love it.” His smile sent chills down my spine. I was hesitant to eat it, or drink the water, because I was afraid he had drugged it.

“I don’t like pizza,” I lied.

Within a second, his smile was gone. “and I don’t care,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at me. “Eat. Now.” I didn’t have a choice, and I was starving, anyway. First, I chugged the water, finally quenching my thirst. Then, I opened up the box, immediately hit with the strong smell of the pizza. It smelt good, I had to admit it, so I went in, finishing it in less than a minute. “Good girl,” he told me, “see? All you have to do is listen to me, and you won’t get hurt.”

“Okay,” I obeyed, only because I had to. “Can you answer one question?” I asked.

“Of course,” he replied.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked him, “and be honest. I can handle it. I’m almost 20 now.”

He smiled, kneeing down in front of me. “Time will tell, Liv.” I hated that he was calling me Liv. Nobody called me that. “Just behave, okay? You won’t be down here forever.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, “I trust you.”

His smile dropped immediately. “Stop lying to me,” he spat. “I know you don’t trust me, I know you’re scared of me. Let’s keep it that way, yeah?”

My heart was racing. He was damn good at telling when people are lying. Or maybe I was just a horrible liar. “Fine,” I mumbled, looking down.

“I’ll be back very soon,” he told me, “I need to take care of a few things, but don’t worry, you won’t be alone for too long.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “Can you bring more water?”

“Of course,” he patronized. “I’ll see you soon, Liv.”

I sulked, and watched him leave me alone again. I wondered what he was going to do to me, but I was almost positive he was going to kill me. There was nothing to do in here, nothing to keep myself occupied, distract me from my thoughts. I picked at my nails, an old habit that I grew out of years ago.

It felt like hours of me waiting. I hated how he took my watch, because not knowing the time was driving me crazy. After awhile you don’t know how long you’ve been in one place, I wondered if it had been a whole day or only a couple hours.

I tried sleeping, but it was impossible given my current situation. Dirty floors, tight chains around my ankles, not to mention the loud vent that made the room freezing.

I was wearing some jeans, pretty thick and baggy, so at least they kept my legs warm, but the loosely fitted long sleeve t-shirt that I had on was thin, and it didn’t do me much justice. My shoes were gone, so I only had my socks on. They weren’t too thick either. In short, I was cold and uncomfortable, it was impossible for me to sleep.

Finally, he came in again. He was wearing a different shirt this time, no more blood.

“I got you some more food, and some water, just as you requested,” he grinned, handing me the same to-go box, I guessed it was another slice of pizza, and this time three water bottles.

I smiled, genuinely smiled, because I was so thirsty. “Thank you,” I said before chugging one of them down. He knelt down and watched me bite into the pizza. I wasn’t afraid to eat this time, he didn’t drug me before.

“I think you lied to me,” he said randomly. I stopped chewing and swallowed, looking at him with a confused yet startled expression. “Youdolike pizza, don’t you?”

“Uh...” I didn’t know what to say, because I didn’t know if he would get angry or not.

He laughed. “I knew it,” he told me, “you can’t lie to me, Liv. I’llalwaysknow,” he smiled, softly wiping sauce off the right corner of my mouth with his thumb, then licked that same finger. “Good sauce, yeah?”

I looked at him, dumbfounded. He basically just ate sauce off my mouth. My reaction only amused him further, because he started laughing again.

Suddenly, he stopped laughing, then looked at me with confusion. He then put his hand on my arm, and it was unexpectedly warm, like he had put it under a heating lamp moments before. “You’re shivering, Liv,” he said to me, “why didn’t you just tell me you were cold?” Whenever he spoke to me he either sounded condescending or furious. I felt like I was walking on eggshells.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged.

He stood up, towering over me again. I tried standing up as well but the chains around my ankles made it extra difficult.

“Mmm...” he mumbled, “why don’t you come upstairs with me,” he offered.

“Really?” I smiled. I hated being down here in the dark, all cold and alone. “Thank you!” I exclaimed.

He grinned down at me, then took out a key from his pocket, unlocking the chains around my ankles. I felt so much relief, so much freedom. I thought about making a run for it, but I knew there was no shot of me actually escaping, and I knew I’d get killed right away.

“But you gotta hold my hand,” he told me, “I don’t want you running off to places you shouldn’t be.” He put out his hand, staring at me with narrowed eyes. It was a demand. So I grabbed onto his warm hand and he squeezed it tightly, then led me up the stairs into his house.

It was small, but it was cozy. He wasn’t a bad decorator, actually. There were dozens and dozens of books too, he didn’t peg me as the reading type, so it was pretty surprising. He led me into a bedroom, very bland, with light brown walls and a king sized bed. On the nightstand there was an unorganized pile of books, and a small notebook with a pen. This must be his room. On his dresser that he was rummaging through, there were only two photos, and both of them were with a little boy, who looked almost exactly like him.

Did he have a son? My eyes went wide, there was no way he had a kid.

“Here,” he said, handing me a sweatshirt and some thick socks. “Put it on.”

“Now?” I asked.

“Now.” I obliged and put on the jacket. I knelt down to take off my socks, and I heard him scoff at me. “You can sit on my bed,” he said, “it’s not going to bite you.”

“Sorry,” I apologized, but I didn’t know why. I shouldn’t be apologizing to him, he should be apologizing to me. I sat on his bed and put on the socks, then stood back up. “Am I going back down there?” I asked.

He laughed in a short breath. “That’s why I’m letting you borrow my clothes,” he told me, “isn’t that obvious?”

“Yes, I just-I just really don’t wanna go back down there.”

He smiled, coming closer to me, then tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You aresohigh maintenance, aren’t you?” He said, cocking his head.

“What? No-No I just—”

“You’re thirsty, you’re hungry, you’re cold,” he complained, “and I bring you meals, water, I even let you borrow my clothes. Yet it’s still not good enough,” he shook his head, pushing me back down onto his bed. “I’ve done so much for you,” he said to me, “it’s your fault you’re here, never forget that, Liv.”

“You killed a child,” I whispered, “it’s your fault.”

His eyes went wide, and now he was hovering over me with my body between his long legs, and slowly wrapped his hands around my throat. “Where did this attitude come from?” He asked me, “the Liv I knew about 20 minutes ago was so polite to me.”

“I-I’m s-sorry!” I chocked out as his grip around my neck got tighter.

“Mhm, I’m sure you are,” he whispered to me.

“P-please—”

He finally released, and I gasped for air. He stood up and looked down at me with pure hatred in his eyes. “For a second there, I was gonna kill you,” he told me. “But Ilikeyou, Liv. So I’m gonna give you one more chance.”

“Thank you,” I said, “I’m sorr—”

“Shut up,” he interrupted. “I’ve had enough of your little apologies. It’s cute at first, but it gets quite annoying after awhile.”

I hung my head low, feeling defeated. He grabbed my hand, aggressively this time, and led me back downstairs. He chained me up again, but instead of leaving, he locked himself in the room with me. He sat across from me, smirking at me with those tired eyes. The worst part about all of this was that I was very attracted to him.

“So, Liv, tell me about yourself,” he said. “What’s a girl like you doing at a diner for children that are ten years younger than you?” He questioned.

I was so confused. Minutes ago he was furious with me. But I played along, he was clearly fucked up in the head.

“The party was for my little sister, Alina,” I answered.

“Alina?” He perked up. “Oh, shelovesme,” he taunted, “she told me she liked me more than Fredbear,” he whispered. “Oops! That was supposed to be a secret.” He smirked at me, and I continued to stare at him with caution. He liked my fearful expression. “I guess you’ll have to share a secret with me, too,” he told me, “it’s only fair, since I told you one of mine.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he interrupted, “c’mon Liv, I wanna know what goes on in that little head of yours.”

“I don’t have many secrets, I’m not very interesting,” I answered truthfully.

“Well, I think you’reveryinteresting,” he told me, looking me up and down. “Why do you think I’m keeping you? I would’ve killed you by now if you hadn’t struck me so much,” he said. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that, but I was glad that it prevented my murder. “Not to mention your looks. You must beverypopular with the boys,” he smirked, lifting his eyebrows.

“Uhm...I’m not,” I said.

“Hm,” he chuckled, “thenwhat a waste,” he whispered. I stared at him, confused. I didn’t understand the point if this conversation. “Tell me about yourself, you intrigue me.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Everything,” he said, smiling.

He looked tired, he always looked tired. The more I stared at him, the more I actually registered what he looked like. I took in all his features, his sleepy blue eyes with the company of dark circles, his fair skin making them even more prominent. He had a very good facial structure, but he was thin, very thin. But at least his hair looked healthy, his messy, unkept dark brown hair that was slightly wet, which I hadn’t noticed before.

“Do you like what you see?” He asked me, tilting his head to the side, his smirk growing.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “You look tired.”

“I’m always tired,” he was quick to say. “But we’re not talking about me, Liv, we’re talking aboutyou.” I didn’t know what to say, there was hardly anything interesting about me. “What’s up with your family? I know you’ve got a little sister...”

“It’s just us and my dad,” I told him.

“And your mother?”

I knew he was going to ask that question. “I have no clue where she is,” I shrugged.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” He seemed engaged, he was actually interested in what I had to say.

I never talked about my mom, it was a topic me and my family chose to avoid. So finally being able to talk about her felt a little relieving, if I was being honest with myself.

“She means nothing to me,” I simply answered, “she left right after Alina was born, I was about 12, but I can’t remember what she was like. I’ve suppressed most of my childhood trauma,” I explained. “I know she was bad. Verbally abusive. And she was — er —isa drug addict. That is if she’s still alive, which I doubt.” I laughed a little, because that’s how little she meant to me. I was glad Alina never got to meet her, Mom would’ve scarred her.

“Wow,” he sighed, leaning back a little. That smile was still on his face, it never left. “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not,” he told me. I wasn’t expecting pity from him. And I’m glad, because being pitied was the absolute worst.

“Good, I’m not sorry either,” I said.

“What else?” He asked me. “Any hobbies?”

I didn’t understand why he was so interested in getting to know me, but I’ve never been asked this many questions about myself. “I draw,” I answered, “this tattoo,” I rolled up the left sleeve of the sweatshirt to expose to the tattoo design on my upper arm. “I designed it.”

The tattoo was teardrops, dripping from eye to eye, the black and gray ink making them look intense and mysterious. The lashes were carefully done, and the iris has shades of blue that give it a touch of glamour.

He took my arm in his hand, studying the tattoo. “Beautiful,” I heard him mutter to himself. He stroked it with his finger, sending chills down my entire body. He looked at me, his finger still trailing my arm, then smiled. “You are very talented, Liv.” He released my arm and unfolded the sleeve, letting it fall back down my arm.

“Thank you,” I said, “I think, when I’m older, I want to be a tattoo artist.”

If I get out of here alive...

“It suits you,” he told me.

I still didn’t know his name, and it was killing me. Looking at him now, I wasn’t afraid of him. I could ask him anything and not be scared that I’d get hurt. Because the way he was looking at me wasn’t anything near scary, it was comforting.

“What’s your name?” I finally asked.

His smile faded a little, but it was still there. “I thought I already told you we weren’t talking about me,” he said. “We’re talking aboutyou, Liv.”

“Right,” I sighed. “Well, I was at a four year university, but I dropped out,” I told him. “I needed to help Dad out with Alina and the bills,” I said. “I can always go back, I’m not worried about it.”

“What’re you studying?”

“Liberal Arts,” I answered. “At CU Boulder.”

“Good school,” he said, “you must be a very smart girl.”

“I like to think so,” I said.

“You certainly have quite the life going for you,” he told me, “it’s such a shame you had to witness that little boys death,” he said, “then you wouldn’t be here. But, no, you justhadto interfere.” I sighed in defeat. There was no point in arguing. He was right, in a way. “But I like your company, Liv. I think I like it a littletoomuch.”

My stomach turned. I didn’t know what he meant by that either. “Thank you,” was all I could think to say.

“Mmm,” he mumbled, then stood up. “I’ll be back a little later,” he told me. “Don’t have too much fun without me,” he teased. I forced a smile and watched him walk out the door, then locked it shut, which left me alone again. Dark, cold, and afraid