I opened the door to my green room, the gentle woosh instantly melting the tension from my shoulders. I was looking forward to having a nice, relaxed night.

Splash!

Something cold shocked me as it tipped over my head, chilling my shoulders. Is that... water? A buzz filled my ears as I jerked my limbs. Oh no. The water must have gotten into my system...

"Freddy! What happened here?" Ollie's brow creased with concern.

"Oh, well- zrt- I walked through this- zrt- doorway- zrt- and water fell on me."

"It's all in your suit! Should I, like, put you in rice or something?"

"That's- zrt- funny, Ollie. I don't- zrt- know what to do. I've never be- zrt-en water damaged before. I'm waterproof- zrt- everywhere but around my neck. Zrt- it must h- zrt- have gotten in there." She closed the hatch on my arm she had just checked, her face pinched with worry. My whole body tingled, the feeling worsening whenever I moved.

"O-okay. Let's just see what the damage is, and then I'll think of something... What the-" My voice box crackled and buzzed for almost a second, and my skin crawled in a terrifyingly familiar way. My eyes locked with Ollie's, and I wasn't as tall as I just was. She was frozen.

"Ollie-" My mouth moved differently, my teeth clicking as I clamped my lips together and covered the ears that were on the sides of my head. Because she was screaming now, high-pitched and shrill.

"Olive!"

"We're here!"

"Ollie! We'll save you!" The voices of our three friends sounded as they skidded into the room. Each of them adopted a similar, shocked expression as they looked over the scene. Monty clamped his hand over Ollie's mouth, muffling her until she stopped, then keeping it there a little longer for good measure. Her eyes were filled with fear.

"Freddy!" Roxy hissed. "What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" I twitched again.

"I- I'm sorry, but-"

"You're the one who said that we weren't going to show her!" Chica said accusingly as she pried Monty off of the now hyperventilating girl beside her.

"I- That- He was- Now- What-"

"It's alright, Ollie. Take a deep breath, now. Someone grab her a chair! That's it, breathe in... and out..." Roxy pulled the chair to my vanity out and guided Ollie into it.

"What happened? Why are you human? And standing in a puddle?"

"I got wet." I explained. "It got in my suit and I short circuited into my human form. It was an accident." Monty's expression softened.

"Then we might as well just tell her."

"Tell me now!" Ollie demanded, starting to calm down as her expression turned less 'terrified' and more 'give me answers now or so help me God'.

"So, we all have two different... versions of ourselves." Chica started, clearly unsure of how to explain it all. "Our animatronic versions, as you already know. And we have human versions."

"Show me." The three of them obeyed, not wanting to anger her. She watched with suspicious eyes as their bodies shifted, and metal became flesh. "This is so fucking crazy. I'm hallucinating. Those cookies Molly gave me were laced with something as a prank. My Moondollars coffee got spiked. This isn't real." I stepped forward, holding her hands in mine. The size difference was not so great now.

"It's real. We aren't really sure of the logistics behind it all. And we never told anyone because we feared their reactions."

"So you all lied again." She pulled away from me, standing up and backing away slightly.

"Well, yes. But it's only because people would probably send us to a lab or something." Monty scowled.

"Right..."

"All we know is that we have souls. It's why we're so human-like. It's not AI or good programming. We are humans. We just aren't really one hundred percent..."

"Alive." Roxy finished Chica's sentence glumly.

"We were as confused as you are right now. But we've simply accepted it."

"How long?" Ollie's voice was now low and quiet. "How long has this been happening?"

"Ever since we died, pretty much." Monty tried to be nonchalant, but his voice was strained. He was the last of us to die, and hadn't really become as comfortable with this version of death as the rest of us.

"You're..."

"We're basically ghosts." Roxy confirmed. "We all died and our souls moved to the animatronic bodies of the original diner. We've been every animatronic since. I used to be Foxy."

"It's true. Me and Freddy have always been Chica and Freddy." Ollie looked towards Monty, who was refusing to meet our stares.

"There was a Bonnie here..."

"Yeah, I died pretty recently. A couple years ago. I mean, just before Montgomery Gator was created, I guess."

"Why?"

"Why did we die, or why did we possess a bunch of animatronics?" Roxy raised her brow.

"Both, I suppose."

"We died in the diner. I'm not sure... I mean... Well, it's a difficult topic, especially for Monty."

"What about Sunny and Moon?" We all looked at each other for a moment in surprise.

"We don't know..." She nodded slowly.

"I'm... sorry that you all died..."

"We don't really remember much about it, so no need to apologise." Chica shrugged. She was the most relaxed about it all, and she was more than happy to live as Chica forever, ignorant of her past. As long as there were children to entertain and pizza to eat, she would always be content.

"Do you remember your pasts at all?"

"Bits and pieces here and there. Nothing big like our names. And we only remember bits of being the other animatronics, too." Roxy explained. "I know that I was Foxy, and I kinda remember some pirate show I did. I got damaged at one point, and they never bothered to fix me... But other than that, it's pretty blank."

"That's so... sad..."

"It was at first. But as we all grew up, we made peace with our fates. And if we weren't here, we wouldn't be able to bring joy to so many children. We wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have met you." I smiled at Ollie, who, for the first time since getting to my room, smiled back. It was small and unsteady, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Wait! You grew up? And you were the original characters? Were you guys... Oh my fucking God..." She paled once again, and I was getting worried that she'd pass out at this rate.

"What now?" Roxy grumbled.

"You guys were the missing children..."

"We were? You know about this?"

"Everyone knows! Five children went missing. They were murdered and were found... Well, I don't suppose you remember..."

"Remember where they- we were found?" Chica hummed thoughtfully. "No. I don't remember." Ollie looked as though she was going to be sick. Or cry. Maybe both.

"I can't. I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

"Maybe you should sit back down again..." Monty suggested nervously. It was like she couldn't hear him.

"It was all over the news for months. Then months again once they- you were found. My parents banned me from the pizzeria. My dad would take me sometimes when I was young. I- I watched the Foxy pirate show and I interacted with you three when you were allowed to roam around, and I was so upset when my mum said I couldn't go anymore. Obviously, I was much too young to understand." My cheeks warmed slightly at the thought of me and Ollie playing together when we were younger and neither of us even realising.

"So we all got... murdered..." Chica's bottom lip quivered, a sure sign that she'd start crying at any moment. "I forgot..."

"I wish I could do that."

"Oh, Monty, I'm sorry." Ollie frowned, placing a gentle hand on his arm. She was trembling. "I shouldn't have blurted that all out. I'm sorry to all of you. I should have had more tact, I was just so shocked..."

"There's no need to apologise." I assured her. "In fact, it's better in the long term, that we know."

"Maybe so, but I still feel kind of nauseous about it all." Roxy frowned.

"I'm sorry for freaking out. I just... If it makes you all feel any better, someone got arrested for it."

"It is good that we have some justice, at least." I tried to imagine a trial, reaching into the depths of my mind to think of my family. But I had no idea who they were, and couldn't think of what reactions they may have had.

"What about me?" Monty asked quietly.

"I don't know." Ollie admitted, pulling him in for a hug. "Sorry, Monty. I could try and find something? It'll be hard but I can-"

"No." He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder with closed eyes. "No, it's okay." I could see tears flowing down Chica's face out of the corner of my eye.

"This is all a lot to take in... I hope my family weren't too sad. I hope that they were happy when that person got arrested."

"I'm sure they were pleased when the trial was over." Ollie reached over to her with a warm smile, pulling her into the hug. Roxy and I decided to join in, and the five of us stood together for a while, silent except for the gentle sobs of Chica and an occasional sniff from Monty.

~

Once we broke apart, Monty rubbed his eyes and put a toothy smile back on his face.

"You know what, I think that did us some good. We've never spoken about this before, so it's sort of nice to get it all out there." Everyone nodded in agreement, slowly feeling better about the sudden news. I suppose if you've already been dead for so long, the method gets slowly less important.

Once Freddy realised that he didn't need fixing as the water seemed to have disappeared when he changed over, Chica had suggested getting some pizza and playing the arcades for a while to cheer up, and we all thought it to be a great idea. As I chewed on the hot food, I took the chance to properly observe everyone.

Chica was pale with round cheeks and almost white hair tied up with a neon pink scrunchie. Her outfit and earrings were the same, and her face markings were there in, what I assumed to be, makeup. She was still the shortest of the four, and was a little plump from the food she enjoyed each night. She also appeared to be the youngest, but I wasn't sure of the ages of any of them. If I had to guess from what little I remembered about the case, they'd all be around a similar age to me. I shivered, wondering if I was almost in their shoes, if little-me had been a potential victim.

Roxanne was, simply speaking, stunning. She was tall, athletically built, and had killer curves. Her skin was tanned and flawless, and the purple on her plump lips suited her perfectly. Her hair fell in voluminous waves, the same grey and green it was when she was an animatronic. Just as Chica, and the boys, her outfit and makeup were also the same.

Monty was also quite short, falling in between Chica and Roxy. His signature red mohawk was wound in tight coils, a brilliant contrast on his dark complexion. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with a thick, muscley arm as he danced on the Shanty 3000 machine with Freddy. All of Monty was muscle, actually, and he could probably easily bench me if the opportunity arose.

My eyes drifted over to Freddy, who had a determined look on his face. He had a light honey colour to his face, a strong jawline, and messy coffee coloured hair that waved and fluffed each and every way. He was the tallest of the four, and his broad shoulders swept into a thin waist. He wasn't ripped like Monty, but he was still in much better shape than I'd ever be. I watched as he jumped and hopped onto each arrow of the machine, breathing heavily, but smiling brightly. His smile was even more stunning like this. Did I say stunning? Haha, no, I meant-

"What do you think?" Chica asked slyly.

"Of?"

"Freddy, of course. You're staring at him."

"Pfft! No I wasn't! Okay, I totally was. Please don't tell him." I begged.

"Do you like him?" She teased in a sing-song voice.

"No, of course not!"

"If you say so."

"HA!" A voice interrupted us. "I won! Take that!"

"You have more stamina than me, and this is the third game in a row!" Freddy complained, clutching at the support bar behind him as he panted.

"Damn right! Ollie, you're up!"

"Alright, alright." I stood up, stretching my arms out. "But don't cry when I kick your ass." Monty stuck his tongue out at me, and I wondered how he got it pierced. He started up the game, the music starting up with a steady, rhythmic song. I watched the screen closely, moving my feet in time with the coloured arrows appearing.

"What? How are you so good at this?" I simply shrugged, making sure to keep my concentration up. Every couple of moves, Monty would do something like spin around or strike a pose, trying to show off. By the time the song pulled to a close and the pirate fox congratulated us for making it through, we had the exact same score.

"This machine must be broken." I knocked on the screen. "I definitely should have won."

"No way! I should have won."

"But the machine measures accuracy, not cringe."

"Come here you little shit!" He lunged at me, and I barely managed to escape, running for my life. "Take it back!"

"Help! Help, he's going to kill me!" I yelped, weaving in and out of the different arcade machines and S.T.A.F.F Bots.

"I won't kill you... I'll just make you regret calling my dance moves cringe!" Squealing, I ran behind Freddy's large frame, clutching at the back of his red jacket, panting heavily.

"Freddy! Save me! I don't wanna be alligator food!" Chica was giggling at our antics, and even Roxy had a smile as she chewed on some pizza.

"Don't worry, Ollie. I'll protect you."

"Your boyfriend can't save you now!" Just as Monty got ready to pounce on the both of us, my watch buzzed.

"No, but the bell can. Sorry guys." They all made an 'aw' sound of disappointment. I fist bumped Monty and Roxy, and was squeezed into a tight hug by Chica. When I turned back to Freddy, I suddenly felt quite bashful.

"See you tonight, Ollie." He opened his arms invitingly, a warm expression on his face. I stepped into him, leaning my head against his chest, almost surprised to hear the soft beating of his heart instead of the usual hum and whir of machinery.

"Yeah, see you. Bye everyone!"

As I pressed the buttons on the machine to clock out, Alex jumped out with a 'boo'.

"What are you doing here so late?"

"Ah! You scared the shit out of me! And I just lost track of the time, I guess."

"Sure, sure. How's things going with Freddy? You charm the bear yet?" My cheeks grew warm.

"Shut up. You're the one that fantasises about grabbing Monty's tail when-"

"I told you that in confidence!" He glared at me for a second before we both started laughing.

"Hey, does that Vanessa chick actually ever turn up? I still haven't seen her yet. I checked the camera room before I got here." Alex punched something into the machine and hummed.

"She's only just checked out, so yeah. It's a big place. You probably just keep missing each other or something."

"Yeah, that's likely." The explanation made sense, but for some reason, a heavy and uneasy feeling settled in my stomach.

(A/N)

Omg I'm #5 out of 12.4k stories under the five nights at Freddy's tag, that's so exciting! Thank you everyone!