Five Nights at Team Crafted's

Chapter Six:

Curiosity Killed the Cat

-...-

     Tyler got home by 6:20 AM and was off to his room in a matter of seconds. His father was up, watching TV, but that was it. Tyler had also remembered his bruise from the night before, which was almost gone, yet still a bit purple. Nobody noticed it, but then again it was dark in the house, except for the TV. Tyler got into his room, and placing his bag on the chair, he jumped onto the bed.

    Tyler was about to fall asleep, but then he heard a buzz coming from his bag. It was his phone. The screen had light up and you could see it from the thin fabric the bag was made out of. Tyler sighed and got up, walking over and fishing out the phone. It was a call from Bashur. 

"Hello?" Tyler had answered the call faster then the animatronic running from last night. 

"Ah! T-Tyler!" Bashur's voice was hoarse, but he sounded happy. 

"Yes?" Tyler asked. 

"You're home now right? Not driving home from work, right?" Bashur asked with a small laugh. 

"I was about to go to sleep. Yeah, I'm at home." Tyler answered. 

"Good. Congrats on living another night. I'm confused on why anybody would go back." Bashur coughed. "But anyway, I didn't call to make sure, I have something to tell you." 

Tyler sat down on the side of the bed. "Did you remember something?" 

"Well." Bashur coughed again. "I remembered something about the animatronics that would have been useful before. It's probably too late, but it's better late then never."

"Go on..."

"All of the Animatronics can run. Run faster then anything you've ever seen before." Bashur coughed out. 

"Huh?" Tyler made a face. "I-i did see one run earlier. I closed the door on it."

"But, no, Tyler, listen to me." Bashur said with a pause. "They can all run, but only two of them ever do it."

"Which ones?" 

"That's the problem. It's something i forgot. I can only remember that two of them actually use that ability." Bashur coughed again. "My best guess is Jerome is one of them, but i don't feel like i can't trust everything I say at the moment."

"Is that how-" Tyler stopped himself. It was not a question to ask someone. 

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Tyler shook his head. "It's not for me to know." 

"Oh, okay." Bashur sighed. 

"Thank you, Bashur." Tyler went on. "Every little thing counts."

"Glad to be of service!" Bashur gave a weak laugh. "Stay safe there, kid!"

"Good bye  for now, Mr. Green~" Tyler said.

"Farewell!" Bashur continued to laugh, even after he hung up. 

    Tyler placed the phone on his side table and laid back down on the bed. He yawned again. He was happy that Bashur called back, but he sounded worse. Tyler shook the thought away. For now, he was to forget everything. He was tired, and so he turned in his bed and pulled the covers up.  It had been a long night. 

-...-

     Tyler groaned, rolling around in his bed sheets. An irking noise bothered his ears, and his eyes slowly opened to find his room lightly brightened to the daylight coming through the blinds and a light from his phone. He turned over to feel a pain on his nose, only to realize he had left his glasses on.

    Tyler sat up and took off his glassed, rubbing his nose and reaching for his phone.  It was 9 AM, meaning he had only slept for 2 to 3 hours. He yawned, answering the phone, not even checking whom it was. He was too tired to remember too. 

"Hello?" He said with the grouchiest of voices. 

"Tyler?" It was Aviator.

"Hm? Yeah? What is it?" Tyler cleared his throat. 

"Okay, wow, that didn't sound like you for a second." Mr. Aviator seemed lost for words. "BUT ANYWAY, this is important Tyler!"

"What is it?" Tyler sighed. "You're not calling me in to work a day shift or lecture me on anything, are you? Or maybe I don't need to come back tonight. Oh how lovely."

"Tyler, this is important." Aviator rolled his eyes.

"Go on."

"Mr.Green passed away." 

Tyler paused, unable to say anything. His eyes widen.

"N-no...I talked to him when i got home from the shift. He called me." Tyler shook his head. 

"The hospital wants you to visit. They have something for you, they said." Aviator sighed. 

"W-What?! But-. I don't understand!?" Tyler's voice got louder. 

"Tyler, listen. I'm here at the hospital because they called me, his boss. His only family is on his way and they were trying to get in contact with you." Aviator said. "We'll learn more about it when you get here." 

Tyler got up, shaking. "I...I...I'll be there soon" Tyler gave up. 

"Thank you."

   Tyler hung up and placed his phone on the side table. He sighed. Bashur couldn't be dead? He talked to him not long ago. Did he just imagine the whole last minute? Tyler shook his head. No. Tyler made his way to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He hadn't showered in a few days. 

   Tyler took a short shower and changed into cleaner clothes, which was his normal red and grey shirt over a white shirt, blue jeans, and red sneakers. He took his phone, shoved it into his pocket, and headed down the hallway to find his family up. 

"Look who's up! Where you going, sweetie?" His mother asked. 

"I'm going to stop by Kyle's." Tyler answered. "He needed help with something."

"Alright. You look tired though." She said. 

"I am, but I'll be right back and in bed." Tyler replied. 

"Be careful then~" 

"Don't worry!"

   Tyler waved goodbye before going out the front door. He then made his way to his car and drove off, headed towards the hospital. 

-...-

        Tyler walked through the parking lot, his stomach turning in an anxious pain. He made his way into the front of the building and looked up to see Mr. Aviator standing by the front desk. Mr.Aviator looked up and seemed to have a worried look on his face. 

"You took longer then i thought you would." Mr. Aviator frowned. 

"Yeah well I'm not here for you." Tyler frowned back. 

"They're waiting for us by room 203, but I assume you already know the way." Aviator said. 

    Tyler didn't reply back. He walked to the elevators, Aviator following from behind. When they got to the floor, Tyler could see a few nurses or doctors with a young woman at the end of the hallway, in front of room 203. She had light blue hair, and her face was hiding by a flood of tears. 

"That's Mr.Green's girlfriend, Clara. She's the only family that lives in the state." Mr. Aviator whispered to Tyler. "He's got other friends that are on their way."

"Ah! Mr. Aviator, you're back with- with-" The nurse turned to them, unsure how to name Tyler.

"I'm Tyler." Tyler sighed. 

"Ah, yes." The nurse pulled something from his pockets and handed it to Tyler. "Mr. Green left this for you. By strict rules, we are not allowed to read without your permission."

"Thank you." 

   Tyler looked down at the thing, which happened to be a letter. Bashur had folded it up and writing Tyler's name on it, yet his handwriting was so shaky and hard to read. Must have been a part of his injuries. He held onto it. 

"Anyway," The Nurse pulled the two over, next to Clara. "We can't be completely sure on what happened, since some test results taken a few days ago have not returned, but when can make an educated guess."

"And that is..?" Aviator asked. 

The nurse sighed. "It's rare, but server cases of shock can slow down the body's reaction to an injury for minutes, hours, days, or even years if you're lucky. But it's almost never ever happened in reported cases of shock. In Mr. Green's case, his body began to realize what was wrong a few weeks after, mainly due to the medicine and machines he  was put on to help him feel a ease once rushed to the hospital."

The nurse paused. 

"A few hours ago, one of the hard prescriptions wore off and a spark was created, metaphorically. His brain finally realized a chunk of it was gone, and it began to freak out. We couldn't calm him down in time and, eventually, trying to catch up with time, his body over worked it'self."

Another nurse, shorter, walked up.

"He would have just gotten by with the accident if his body had reacted like normal, but it didn't, and that's what killed him."

"I don't understand." Clara said, her voice soft and hoarse. "While all this time, knowing his body would react in such a manner at some point, couldn't you've been more prepared?" 

"As I said, it's a rare case. One we don't fully understand yet." The first Nurse sighed.

The shorter one frowned. "We're sorry for your loss." 

Tyler cleared his throat and gathered his senses again, shaking his head. He turned to Aviator and pulled him aside. 

"I need to speak with you." Tyler frowned. 

Aviator looked surprised. But then he bowed to the nurses and Clara and let Tyler drag him back down the hall. They turned the corner to be alone, and Tyler shot glares at the taller man.

"What are you so angry about!?" Aviator crossed his arms. 

"Bashur Green is dead because of you!" Tyler hissed.

Aviator's eyes widen, but then he leaned against the wall and looked down. 

"Yeah, i guess you're sort of right..."

"A-" Tyler paused. Aviator accepted that claim. "So....You do feel guilty, right?" 

"Tyler don't start this." Aviator shook his head. "I've known Bashur Green longer then you. We've had time to talk and become friends. Of course i do! If I could go back and stop him from getting this job, i would. It ruined his life and i didn't notice it because how could I? He ignored me when his shifted ended, just like you do. He kept his stories of his shift away from me, like you do. He -"

"So then why should I have this job? If I'm going to end up just like him?" Tyler couldn't give it up. 

"Bashur proved to me that he could handle the job, that I didn't need to worry. He wanted to go back, god knows why. That's what he told me too. And so, after one month, i let him be." Aviator went on again. "You have no idea how bad i felt to walk in one morning to find him on the ground, half his head gone. I thought he was dead. I thought everything was going to crash down after that. But no, it didn't , yet it should have!" 

 "..." Tyler saw tears in Aviator's eyes. 

"So why am I trusting you?" Aviator shook his head. "I'm not. I've only just met you. But That job needs to be filled. Honestly, if you live to breath at the end of the week, i'd have nothing but respect for you. Bashur was a gift, he made it week after week. No other employee has made it so far." 

"They all died?" Tyler could hardly make a word. 

"They all quit. Most quit after night one, some even before the shift ended. I've gotten tons of angry calls and threats of court cases. Some were brave and went back, but then realized it was too much, and quit the next time we met. Some were full of themselves and died trying to prove themselves, as well as I, that this job was a piece of cake." Aviator went on. "One idiot barricaded the doorway of the office with anything he could find, but it was all knocked down, crushing him below." 

Tyler looked down at the floor. People have died in the very office he worked in.

"Tyler. You're strong to keep up with my crap. You're strong to have made it this far. But i've told you before, if you want to leave, i understand completely. That place is nothing but hell, and it would be child abuse to force you to return." 

Tyler cleared his throat. "So why...why is this job legal? Why hasn't the park closed down?"

Aviator paused. 

"I wish I knew. I'm not the head of the park, the Team Crafted Company is. They've spoken with the law, that's all I need to know. I have no clue how they were convinced this was okay, but here we are." Aviator turned to walk away. "Look, kid. Life isn't fair. It's not fun at all. But remember you aren't alone."

"That's the worst advice you could possibly give." 

Aviator stopped to look back.

"Think about it then." 

Aviator then turned to walk back down the hallway, to room 203. Tyler sighed, sitting down against the wall. Tyler felt like he had all the right to view Aviator as the mastermind behind this torture, but my god Aviator just pulled the worst guilt trip he possibly could. Tyler looked at the letter again, opening it and unfolding it. He read it to himself. 

     The letter was a list of thing Bashur had remembered before he died, and was able to scribble down. In bullets, Bashur listened off many things that Tyler was surprised he could remember. It went like this:

"-You are the only employee that knows that the animatronics are deadly. All the employees that work day shifts have no clue, and thus cannot help you at all. 

-Deadlox is attracted to loud noises. More specifically, things crashing to the ground or fireworks going off. 

-Water is not a safe place to hide. They know they can wait for you to come back up or drown. If you stay in the pool, you better be ready to stay all night. If they go away before then, you're not their main interest. 

-The pot hole that leads outside the park, located inside Seto's ride, will not open. If you get stuck down there, you're trapped. 

-The Animatronics cannot enter Ty's fun house. The doorways are too small for them. This is a safe place to hide. 

-They can all run, but only Jerome and Ian do that. 

-Seto Is the only animatronic with sympathy. He's always broken, and the only time he'll be out of his ride is when a light outside is left on. He is still dangerous. He will still kill you.

-Sky will pay no mind to you, but he is the most lethal of all if you do something wrong. He bites more than he barks. 

-Husky and Jerome are average in power, and can be influenced by Mitch's actions. 

-Ty is independent. He will do things the others won't. He is the most curious. "

    Tyler continued reading to find one last part in the letter. 

"Don't go back, please. Nobody stays and makes it out alive. I didn't, neither will  you. I want you to live, Aviator wants you to live, your family and friends want you to live. Your curiosity can't get the best of you like it did me. Curiosity killed the cat. DON'T. GO. BACK." 

     Bashur didn't want him to go back, and yet he left all these tips. Ironic. Tyler sighed and shoved the letter into his pocket. What was he to do now? He had a motive, but someone who seemed to have a reason to go back didn't make it in the end, like he thought. It never ends well for the people stuck with these jobs, huh? This week felt like eternity. It was only half over too. 

    Tyler got up slowly, his hands in his pockets. He didn't go to say goodbye, he just left. Down the stairs this time, out the front door, without signing out. He drove back home slower then normal, without causing road rage. He got home, and by then it was 11 AM. His mother walked out of the kitchen to see he looked unhappy. 

"Is everything okay?" She asked. 

Tyler sighed. "Yeah. Don't worry about me." He gave her a small smile. 

She paused, staring at him. She didn't believe him. "Alrighty then..."

   Tyler walked to his room and sat down on his chair, having to move the bag out of the way. He spun around slowly in the chair, pulling out the letter from his pocket and placing it on the keyboard. He then pulled out his phone, staring at it. 

   A thought popped into his head. One that made him tense up. What if what happened to Bashur happened to him? Aviator said that Bashur acted the same way as he did, hiding things from the boss. Bashur probably died knowing more then he's said. What if Tyler was to be found dead one morning? His family woken up with a call from the hospital, saying their only boy was killed.

"Killed by what?" they would ask. Killed by his dumb luck, that's what. 

  And Bashur left behind a girlfriend and friends and even family. Tyler remembered Clara breaking down in the hallway, unable to understand anything the nurses said. If Tyler were to die, that would be Shelby. Shelby and Kyle. The closest people to him. 

   Tyler swiped open the phone, and went to the phone app. He scrolled down a list until he got to Kyle's name. He tapped on the name, a question bubble popping up, asking if he wanted to call this person. Tyler tapped yes, and the call was sent. He slowly raised the phone to his ear, listening to the beeping sound it made. 

"Tyler!" Kyle's voice greeted. 

"Hey!" Tyler tried to smile. 

"Ey, what's up? You sound a bit down~" Kyle was his best friend after all. 

"I...I have something to tell you." Tyler gulped. 

"What's that?" 

   Tyler tried to come out with it. He needed the help. He needed the pressure to be lifted off of him. He needed a friend. He wasn't alone, after all. To reach out, Tyler needed to do. But he couldn't. Would Kyle even believe all of it? 

"You there?" Kyle asked after Tyler's silence. 

"Yeah, um..." Tyler paused again. "You know what? Never mind."

"Okay..."

"I'll tell you tomorrow." Tyler falsely promised. "Bye."

   Tyler hung up the phone instantly. He then placed it down on the desk and sat back, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't. And what proves he'd be alive to say it tomorrow anyway? If he were to die, Kyle would find out sooner or later, right?

    But Aviator could make up a lie. A believable lie. And the Team Crafted Company would probably have his back, knowing they worked something out with the law. The creators of a kid's TV show and comic book series used to be heros to young Tyler, but now they seemed like villains. How about that. 

   Tyler got out of the chair and went to his bed, falling apart on top of it. He curled up in the covers, taking off his glasses and placing them on the side table. This was too much for a child like him. Too much.

-...-

"Tyler." 

  Aviator dipped his head, greeting Tyler, whom walked up to him. Tyler pressed a button on his car keys that made his car in the distance beep. He had locked it. Tyler stood before Aviator in his uniform and with his bag. He wasn't tried, but he was paranoid. Dreading the coming moment. The six hours of hell. 

"Welcome back." Aviator sighed.

   Tyler was about to walk on, into the park, but Aviator handed a small slip of paper to Tyler. Tyler stopped and unfolded it, reading it to himself. 

It was the time and date for Mr. Green's funeral. The following weekend, Saturday. 12:30 PM. 

"Was i-" Tyler turned back, but Aviator was already halfway down the parking lot, too far to be heard. 

"actually Invited...?" 

Tyler turned back to face the gate. He gulped and approached it. His heart beating faster the closer he got, the moment he stepped inside, he felt like he had been signed a contract with Death. 

The fourth Night has begun. May the odds be ever in your favor...

-...-