Visiting Hour
I sat in the seat and thanked the guard. I then looked at the man in front of me. The only thing separating us was a plane of glass and a telephone. He had a short head of snow-white hair, large-lensed glasses, and an equally white long beard. His face was blank, as if he didn't want to see me, which is entirely plausible.
He picked up his phone, and I picked up mine.
"Who are you?" He asked while making eye contact with me in a creepy fashion.
"My name is Eric Jefferson," I replied. "My friends and I have been building a horror attraction based on the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza chain."
"Is that so? And why on Earth would you be doing such a thing?"
"Well, we all met at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Actually, it was in 1997, to be exact."
That certainly piqued his interest; one of his eyebrows rose.
"I see...so why would you be visiting me?"
"Well, shouldn't it be obvious? I did my research and discovered you were arrested on June 26th, 1997 for the disappearances, possibly the deaths, of five children that went missing that year."
"So?"
"So, I'm curious as to why you did it."
"Who says I did it?"
"Well, you were ARRESTED after VIDEO EVIDENCE showed YOU entering the back room with the children!"
"So? Nobody has a video of me committing any murders."
"Look, just...you know the franchise on a personal level, so I was wondering if you could clarify a few things with me."
"...fine. I guess I got nothing to lose."
"So, I did a bit more research, Mr. Morado, and I discovered you were actually the manager of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in 1987, where a man supposedly was severely hospitalized after one of your animatronics bit his head."
"Key word: supposedly."
"Well, we happen to know better; we've seen this bite victim for ourselves."
He just stared at me with an angry expression. He then muttered something under his breath as he looked down. I think I could hear him say 'Fitzgerald'...whoever that is.
"Alright," he finally replied. "But what does this have to do with anything?"
"Well, I then discovered you also worked at the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza location in 1973 as a waiter."
"Again, what does-"
"That year, the place closed because five children went missing."
He stared at me again. He didn't look too happy.
"You would've been around your mid-thirties at that time," I continued. "So it's not like you were too young to remember that."
"You really aren't answering the question of what this has to do with anything."
"Actually, I think I am. In 1973, you worked at an establishment where 5 children went missing on June 26th. Then, 24 years later, TO THE DAY, you were arrested for the case of 5 more missing children."
"So, what? You think I was responsible for the disappearances in 1973?"
"I'm not saying that. But I'm sure you know SOMETHING."
He shrugged.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it to you?"
"Well, we're basing the horror attraction on the rumors, so we need as much info as possible."
He just stared at me again. We were both silent for a while, waiting for one of us to speak.
"I will say this," he finally told me. "I didn't do anything to any children in 1973. I give you my word on that."
"Do you know anything about who did it?"
"...I do."
"Who was it?"
He then chuckled.
"I ain't spilling the beans on his name...not that it matters."
"I don't care about the name. I just want to know what his role was. Was he a waiter, too? A mechanic? A guard?"
"Heh. He was a bit of everything. One of the greatest employees in company history."
"Oh, really?"
"There's not a job that man couldn't do, although he did prefer working as a performer."
"You mean, like being with children?"
"Heh heh. You got it."
"Jesus, he must be a sicko..."
"That he was."
"I noticed you keep referring to him in the past tense. Why is that?"
"Why do you think?"
"...oh. So, he's..."
"Yup. Burning in a deep level of Hell."
"How did he die?"
"Well, now that's a company secret."
"Come on. What's the harm of telling me?"
"Only the fact that all employees were sworn into never telling a soul. Ever."
"What could possibly require that much secrecy?"
"Well, only the few remaining workers at the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza at the time will ever know."
"...you're really not going to tell me?"
"Even if I wasn't sworn to secrecy, I don't see a point in informing you what happened."
"Fine. I suppose that's fair."
"Now, I suppose if there's no other business..."
"So, from what I've gathered, the one responsible for the missing children in 1973 was an employee who did a little bit of everything, yet preferred being with the kids? And on top of that, he died in a way that caused the entire company to be sworn to secrecy about what happened?"
"Pretty much."
"...I see. Thank you for your time, Mr. Morado."
"It's my pleasure, Mr. Jefferson."
* * *
I don't have the best memory in the world, but that visit with Vincent Morado stuck with me, even though it was over a month ago.
Now, as I sit here, thinking about that conversation, I wonder just how relevant it could be to our current situation. Guy missing, phantom animatronics...I'm not sure how it's connected. I'm not even sure that it is...maybe I'm just getting paranoid.
All I know is that it's been 24 hours and not a word from Guy. I really hope we find him.
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