You could say that a man like William Afton wasn't exactly always standing at the top of the world but today he sure damn felt like he was.

Four years and three days exactly to the day that they had opened the Diner. Everything had seemingly worked just fine.
Bonnie and Fredbear had their routine checks once every month and with their small group of friends, the Emily-Asston duo weren't just getting by - they were thriving!

Since William didn't have a wife or kids, he could find other methods to spend his money on.
Like the Aft-Mobile.

It was a Buick GNX and he got it in his favourite colour - purple.
The car had a massive front and a V-6 engine that made the roads fucking tremble whenever he was in the mood. The deep violet paint job was his pride and joy as it sparkled in the sun and prowled in the dark.
The custom plates read accordingly: AFT0N.

That was his second favourite piece of technology.

His first, of course, was Bonnie.
Because there wasn't a day that passed by where William didn't drop by to check in on things.

Most of his time was now dedicated to helping Henry set up a sister location in a nearby town once they had complaints about those parents not wanting to make the long drive. The singing and brightly coloured animatronics had been such a big hit with the kids that they were even beginning to sell posters and plushies and the children from out of town were beginning to jump on the wagon as well.

William couldn't be more proud of his and Henry's work and hoped that the good luck would keep them going with this new project.

He had just finished setting up the internal security cameras at the new location when he clocked off at 5 pm and had taken almost forty-five minutes to drive over to the Diner to commit to his daily ritual. Even if William didn't have a family of his own, that didn't mean that he despised children. He, in fact, adored them.
He couldn't help but grin as he pulled up and a flurry of children screamed and chaotically surged in groups across the carpark. All wearing brightly coloured clothes and all wore excited faces and were of very young ages as some clasped to their parents' hands.

Lunch and dinner times were their busiest as that's when the parents got off work and when the children came home from school with empty bellies.

William pulled into a parking slot, turned off his engine, and unclipped his seatbelt to step out of his vehicle. He grinned as he looked around before he locked his car and began his stride over to the Diner.

"Asston's here," Dave announced as he looked up from the reception desk. "Tell him we've had a busy day so he stays in a good mood."

"But we've had a busy day?" Jessica raised a brow as she leaned against the desk to look at Dave in slight confusion.

"Yeah, I know - just tell him that."

"Tell me what?" William grinned as he strode over to the two employees.

Jessica "Jess" Hawkins and Davon "Dave" Miller had been friends of Henry's throughout college but they had also opened up to William and considered him their friend as well now. There was a difference, however; William was a lot more terrifying as a boss whereas Henry was more laid back with them.
The cause for this was the fact that William did not trust many people to operate the animatronics and he was only obliged to trust Henry because the other had demanded his cooperation in building the franchise.

William smirked at their worried expressions as he sauntered up to the reception desk and casually leaned against it with one hand on his hip. "Evening, ladies."

Dane just shook his head with an unimpressed stare as Jess rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Hello, William."
They greeted him in flat unison.

"How are things?" William looked between them before he leaned off the desk and scanned around the Diner to look for one individual.

"They've been relatively swell, actually." Dave was the one to entertain his interest today. "Fredbear has been slow - he might need you to take a look at one of his feet. I'm not sure if maybe one of the kids hurt him or what have you. But Bonnie seems fine. He's currently performing for a group of five in one of the birthday booths. Henry's just come in if you wanna talk to him."

William gave a nod as he stared ahead and processed the information given to him before he clasped his hands together and turned back to face the two employees.
"Tell Henry that I shall speak with him when I check over Fredbear's foot in... Ten or twenty minutes."

"I'll let him know." Jess nodded and slipped off toward the back office areas to go inform her other boss.

William checked his watch before walking off to go find the birthday booth that Bonnie was performing in.
They had been lucky enough two years ago to get a lease on the next building over when it had gone out of business. They had purchased it and refurbished the area in order to connect it to the Diner and had set it up as a place where birthday parties could be booked and operated. It had brought back the money used for the lease and more as parents happily booked their big birthday parties with their children and their friends - especially during the school holidays. William couldn't remember a time when the birthday booths hadn't been booked out.
Bonnie and Fredbear would individually perform exclusive concerts for the child's birthday. Though Fredbear was the face of the Diner, Bonnie was more popular with the children only due to the fact that his vocabulary had more variety than his counterpart. Bonnie would usually be performing for the children whilst Fredbear handed out the cakes.

It wasn't a case of who was the favourite but rather which animatronic the individual child liked the most. Both the animatronics were widely loved across the blossoming franchise and the employees never used the 'f' word around them because the two were a part of their family just like the rest of the employees. William admired Fredbear but he could hold a meaningful conversation with Spring Bonnie and he just appreciated spending his time more with his own creation rather than listening to the same generated responses over and over again.

He eventually found the golden rabbit in the third room standing beside a group of colourful balloons. The children were humming their satisfaction to one another as they chowed down on their vanilla cream cakes.

William stood in the doorway of the booth and stared at Bonnie for a moment to observe him. The rabbit's ears twitched and straightened upward before he turned his head to peer over his shoulder. His ears sprang up and forward alongside his eyebrows as his green eyes lit up.
How could someone look at this robot and say that it wasn't alive?
His face was practically lighting up as it spotted its creator a few meters away.

"W-W-William!" The rabbit closed its eyes temporarily and smiled to express its joy upon seeing him as it straightened up and stood still like a soldier awaiting his command.

"Hello, Bonnie." William smiled warmly as he entered the room and approached his creation. "It's good to see you."

"It is little Susie'z birthday today!" The rabbit cheered as it turned back to face the children as its ears stood proud and tall.

"Is that so? Well, did you sing Happy Birthday to her?"

William soon approached to stand beside Spring Bonnie as they watched the children happily eat. Upon seeing the adult, a few of the children's faces lit up as some recognised him. A girl with frilly, blonde hair widened her eyes as she pointed at him. They must've been locals if they recognised him.

"Y-yes!" The rabbit nodded.

"It's Liam!" Susie announced with cake icing coating her small, pink lips.

The children knew him as 'Liam' because he preferred that name. It was a few letters easier to spell than William and he absolutely despised the name Billy for very personal reasons. His niece knew him as Liam and so when she bragged about her family connections to the other kids in town, she'd use the name Liam.
To the children - Liam was a fair-skinned, somewhat plump man with shining brunette hair and blue-gray eyes that always went together with a friendly and winning smile. He always smelt of sweat and oil - never one without the other and never was one odor overpowering the other for some reason. They knew Liam to be the man who worked on their favourite robots and hence why he was always so messy or smelly. Despite his disheveled look, it also helped Liam to appear more friendly when the children thought of him just as another kid but bigger. He was an open book to the children but shaped his words to help them better understand what he was doing.

Things like 'Fredbear's just having a bad day, so I need to go and cheer him up.' when he needed to check in on one of the animatronics that wasn't functioning properly. He was the one who took care of the robots and made them better when they were broken or hurt so they could go back to playing with the kids.

He also wore navy blue or faded purple jeans.
Sometimes he'd even wear his favourite purple tie with stars on it when he needed to 'dress up' for adult occasions such as meetings.
He drove a purple car.
He was always grinning no matter how tired he looked.

He didn't like the name but to the kids from out of town who hadn't personally met him yet - he was called the Purple Guy.

William watched with raised brows of interest as Susie moved back her chair abruptly and got up to run over to him. He watched in amusement as an older boy with fading blonde hair quickly got up to chase after her.

"Mr Liam!"

"Susie!" The young boy grumbled but was too late to reach her before she reached William.

She looked up at the man with shining eyes before she spoke again. "Are you gonna make another robot?"

William grinned for a moment to hide his surprise. He'd been asked that before and every time he heard that question, he usually had an answer ready. The only problem was that he mostly heard the inquiry from adults and it was usually behind closed doors where Bonnie couldn't hear or see his response.

"Uh..." William hesitated.

Bonnie was very good at reading facial expressions. He'd been functioning for four whole years without completely shutting down. Day in and day out, he read not only children's behaviours but adults' as well whenever they lingered about inside the Diner. Bonnie knew everyone's personalities among the employees and was learning more by the second. William knew how smart the animatronic standing beside him was and hence why he felt pressured to give a confident response.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his creation's feelings - William could never replace Bonnie. The robot had to know that much. No matter how many robots William Afton designed, fixed, or created - his first would always hold a special and very important place in his heart. He couldn't explain how it felt to others when it came to just how much he cared for Spring Bonnie, so how could he possibly hope to explain it to a child?

He timidly turned his head slowly to look at Bonnie and just as he predicted - the rabbit was staring right back at him. Almost expectantly which served to unnerve William just a little bit.

"I and Henry are currently working on opening another Diner in a nearby town. It's going to be a bigger place and with a lot more robots!" William swiftly turned to present his answer to the five children who were looking lost as the silence dragged on. "It's going to be called Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria!"

The children were awed with wide eyes and small gasps of excitement.

"Will there be a fox?" One of the children who sat at the back corner of the table asked.

William recognised his narrow nose, bright and fuzzy orange hair, and his gentle brown eyes. It was a Smith child but he couldn't be sure of which one exactly.

"A fox?" The older boy who was standing, turned around to frown over at the boy.

"Foxes are cool! We see them durin' dusk when they come out an' we have to shoo them away from the hen house." The orange-haired boy explained.

"You know what?" William tilted his head with a hum. "I think there might be a fox coming."

The children gasped as their attention was brought back to him.

"You're one of the Smith children, right? Forgive me, but I know your family. You used to live next door."

"Mhm, I'm Fritz! I'm turning nine this weekend!" Fritz proudly nodded.

"Oh, darn it! Can't you turn nine next year?" William playfully pouted as the other kids laughed.

"No!" Fritz shook his head as joy blossomed on his face. "I'll be turning ten!"

"That's even better! Double digits!" William held up both his hands to display all eight fingers and two thumbs. "Well then, by next year, you'll be able to have a party over at Freddy's!"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome!"

"Yes!"

"That's so cool!"

Susie turned back to blink up at William. "I heard that Henry is gonna make a girl robot. Is that true?"

"It is! Bonnie will be getting a sister." William smiled and turned briefly to glance over at Bonnie who had been strangely silent this whole time.

"I heard the name 'Chica' - does that mean she's a chicken?" Susie furrowed her little brows together in thought.

"I think so." William put his hands in his pockets and nodded as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his shoes to try and relieve some of the tension bubbling in his chest.

"So a chicken girl and a fox will be at Freddy's?"

"Technically chicken girls are just hens." Fritz answered the other boy's question.

"So who is Freddy then? Is there gonna be another Fredbear and Bonnie?"

William felt the burning gaze on the back of his neck begin to slowly pierce his skin. With each question the children were firing at him, the more Bonnie was probably feeling betrayed and William knew that it would not end well if he just outright told them that yes - they were building a new Bonnie.
Two of them.

"Oh, no, Freddy's er... Freddy's a completely different character! And he won't be hanging out with Bonnie - not when he's got Chica."

"But you said-"

"Oh, would you look at that!" William randomly checked his watch with a nervous chuckle. "I've got grown-up stuff to do - uh, enjoy the cake and I shall see you next time!"

Quickly before the kids could grab a hold of him, William turned and marched out of the room. He didn't feel calm until he was at least halfway down the hall where Bonnie couldn't see him. He breathed deeply in order to calm himself and collect his mind.
Henry was going to kill him.
He was supposed to have not told the kids so much about what kind of new robots were going to be at the new location but William couldn't deny that seeing the joy on their little faces had made him feel happy for a brief moment.

He ran a hand through his hair before he turned and stepped into the security office. "Hello, Steve."

"Hello, Billy."
William frowned as he greeted him like that.
Steven "Steve" Peter was their daytime security guard. He and Dave switched roles throughout the day - at night, Steve would man the phones and Dave would take over for security. The two worked like clockwork and had a relatively good routine despite their hours.

Steve had been another friend of Henry's but they had met each other just after their high school graduation at a sporting convention. William had never truly felt safe around, trusted, or even liked Steve. The man had nothing to hide after all but always acted like he did. He was sarcastic and quiet most of the time when the adults used to hang out. William suspected that perhaps being confined to watching the cameras all day had done a number on him and Dave as a whole because they were just as grumpy as William.

William thought he was grumpy, not short-tempered. If he was short-tempered then he would hate children because they ate through patience like acid ate through skin.

No, William didn't understand why Dave and Steve hated him - Steve and Dave got along just fine and they were both sad sacks of shit. So why was William the one to suffer through their snarky comments?

William sighed as he stepped into the office and took a glance over the camera setup. "Dave said it's been busy today."

"Most 5 pm shifts are." Steve leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes. It was clear to him now that William wasn't just going to pass by, no, he was here to talk.
And Steve, despite his job, hated talking - especially to William.

William leaned against one of the empty doorways with his arms folded. "Rough day, I suppose?"

"'Should ask you that." Steve finally set his tablet down to turn and face him. "You reek of warm pizza and oil. You been over to that place again?"

"Is there anywhere else that Henry needs or wants me?"

"I suppose that - no. No there isn't."

William dropped his gaze to look away. "Speak of the devil - could you call Fredbear to the back? I need to check over the plates around one of his feet."

"Sure."

William then rolled off the wall with a quiet 'thank you' before he turned and continued further back into the building. There weren't many windows here to provide light and so there weren't many colourful posters or overhead lights. This part of the building wasn't meant for customers and children especially. It was the employee's area where they worked either repairing the animatronics or watching the security footage.

William rubbed one of his eyes as he gently pushed open the door to the Parts and Service room. One of the lights needed a new change of bulb and so only one worked in its place. The room was always cold and dark which gave a creepy vibe to it and William realised that he actually hated being in this room.
Whilst Henry was on the stage laughing and greeting the children or swindling money from their parents' pockets - William was back here. Hidden in the shadows and endlessly working hard at the very machines that held up the foundations of their franchise.

William balled one of his fists tightly and focused on taking deep breaths to calm himself before Henry arrived with Fredbear. He couldn't afford to give another temper tantrum to Henry - another excuse to be locked away like one of his toys. William needed to show Henry that he was a calm and clear-thinking adult who could carry out a levelheaded conversation with another adult.

But it wasn't always like this - their friendship.

There was a time when William and Henry were equals and they had fun. William let his childhood naivety stay with him and Henry had abused him into staying with him and then beneath him. William had been so gullible and laid back as a child that he had almost given Henry complete control over his life. Henry hated the way that William would lash out at his other friends and take his short temper out on them because William knew that if he ever picked a fight with Henry then all his hard work would've been for nothing. Henry was the one who managed a business and hence he was the one who was in charge. Henry only allowed William to lash out at the others because it was better than letting him walk away.
Henry had a chain around William's throat and now the latter was realising just how hard it was to breathe as the chain continued to tighten.
William didn't know if he could even afford to walk away.
It's not that he hated Henry; it was just that he needed some space. He needed Henry to understand that he was human too. William made mistakes, he fucked up, he goofed off, he was awkward, but he was trying his best. Everything he did, he did it because Henry had wanted him to do it.
Henry 'asked' but he never demanded. The two were on the verge of demanding, however, and William realised that one day Henry would demand something from him and it would be the last thing he could take from William.

"Everythin' alright?"

William tensed as he heard Henry's voice echo from behind him as the door reopened. He turned almost hesitantly before he nodded and the anger faded from his eyes.

He was scared of Henry.
But he was too stubborn and prideful to allow himself to realise that.

Henry built machines too but they were lifeless and cold. Henry's creations were devoid of emotion and without purpose. William could only imagine the horrors that lay inside the other's head.

"I wanted to go over the plans about the Fazbear place with you. I was just over there - i-installing the security cameras."

"Jesus, William. Don't you ever take the day off?"

'Would you even let me? ' But William firmly kept his lips shut and his throat empty.

He exhaled a long sigh as he unclenched his fist. "It was a safety protocol. If someone breaks in then we'll have the cameras up and running to catch them."

Henry gave a nod as he continued to shuffle his way further into the room. "An' this is why I put you in charge of that place. You were always the smart one, Liam."

William managed a small but nervous smile as Henry praised him.
Henry was shorter than William but by God was he a Hell of a lot bigger than him. Henry was practically Fredbear come to life. He had a large belly but a jolly face and arms as thick as the necks of giraffes. He had a bushy, brown mustache and deep blue eyes with tanned and rough skin. He was dressed in his work clothes, a similar attire to mimic Fredbear's little top hat, a relaxed violet blazer that was dotted with shiny stars, a white shirt underneath with black buttons, and black dress pants with matching shoes on.

"I'm told that Fredbear is limping." William narrowed his eyes as he cut straight to the point. "I shall give him a look over?"

Henry nodded. "He's just been draggin' his left foot about the place today. I wouldn't have worried as much but it's done nothin' but cause a racket."

William nodded as he turned and began searching for the spare toolbox that he usually kept at this location exclusively for the animatronics. "Has anyone tried performing as him today?"

"No. I asked Dave to give him his daily test run but you know how he is with these animatronics."

Dave was always the worried type and perhaps the only one who took thorough caution when stepping inside one of the suits. He always put up a fight whenever it was his turn to test out the spring locks for the mornings before they opened. Not that they wore the suits as much nowadays but it was still a safety protocol that William had implemented to ensure that the animatronics would stay familiar with the altering of their endoskeleton moving about inside their 'skin'.

"That's alright. Do you mind watching?" William raised a brow with a way look thrown over his shoulder at Henry who shifted uneasily on his feet before giving in with a nod.

A few moments later and they each heard the collective 'thud, thud' of the bear's massive footsteps as it made its way down the gloomy hall and towards the room that they were in.

"Hello, Fredbear!" William greeted him with a stretched grin. "How are you feeling today?"

"He-he-hey, everyone!" The ears pinned forward as the robot blinked. "B-be careful out there! It-zz raining."

William knew what that response meant. Henry had generated it in case they had to deal with wet weather slips and falls. However, that saying was most commonly used around William or Henry whenever the bear was scheduled for a check-up.

"I know, buddy. I am very sorry. Do you want to power down for a moment? Just a moment whilst I take a look at you and get you all fixed up, alright?"

"Ok, su-superstar!" Fredbear gave him a thumbs up before he went sill and relaxed his ears back.

"Fredbear, power down." Henry muttered and they heard the circuits soon slow before stopping altogether.

Fredbear was in what some could call a 'sleep' mode. He could still hear them but he couldn't do anything until he either heard a voice command or if his programming was overridden.
William pulled a chair up and sat right beneath the bear with his tools at the ready. He gently removed the fur panel to assess the damage to the robot's endoskeleton with his flashlight.

He was done tinkering with Fredbear's foot some twenty minutes under the ever-watchful eye of his friend, Henry. William then stood up and dusted himself off before turning to face the other man.

"You want to run him or shall I?"

Henry frowned at the silent bear and slowly shook his head.

"Alright." William shrugged and began to gently unwind the crank.

"I don't understand how you can just put yourself inside these machines. Ain't you the least bit worried that somethin' could happen?"

William turned to face Henry before he gave the command. "I am worried. But since no one else is going to do it, that responsibility instead falls to me. I understand that you have something to lose - Charlie, Bella. So it's fine if something happens to me, right?"

Henry's face fell as William threw that in his face. "Will."

"Fredbear, pilot mode." William instructed before the other could counter-argue.

William watched as the endoskeleton slithered before his eyes and disappeared into the darkest edges of the golden bear where the spring locks waited for him like millions of tiny teeth ready to sink into his flesh.

"You know that I didn't mean it like that." Henry's words fell on deaf ears as William soon stepped inside the suit.
"You have somethin' to lose too. It shouldn't be just you doin' all of this."

"Yeah, well - say it at my funeral." William muttered under his breath as he carefully stretched out his limbs.

Fredbear was shorter than Bonnie but had wider room for his arms. It was a hassle to calm himself down whenever he felt the blunt edges of the metal above scrape against his head. He was slow and careful as he walked Fredbear around the room and was carefully noting every noise and feeling down.

"Fredbear, release." William quietly said as he eyed the spring locks poised just mere inches from his lips.

He slowly removed himself from the suit when he heard the back unseal. He ordered Fredbear back to animatronic mode when he had ensured his safety once fully outside of the suit. He turned to face Henry who had sat in total silence and watched him.

"Fredbear's foot was fine. A bit of scuff on the fur lining it but the metal itself was just loose as well as a few nuts and bolts."

Henry looked down after he gave a nod. William stared at him for a moment before he turned and started for his toolbox to pack up his things.

"Charlie misses you." Henry began softly. "I tell her that you're busy setting up the new pizza place. She's here almost every day after 3 pm."

"How are her grades going?" William grunted as he crouched to pull his box out from under the chair.

"They're alright. Excellent for a six-year-old, anyway." Henry leaned back in his chair with a slight chuckle.

William smiled and shook his head.

"You're too hard on her, you know?" Henry continued. "She's just a kid. Let her be a kid an' have some fun. Heavens know that when she gets to our age, she'll probably end up fuckin' miserable like us!"

William straightened up with a sigh as Henry continued to chuckle. William looked over at Fredbear who was staring at the wall but as his ears twitched, William knew that it was listening to them.

"Fredbear, go back to Party Booth 3 and relieve Spring Bonnie of duty. Tell him to come in here." William ordered and the two waited for the golden bear to lumber out of the room before William turned to frown at Henry.

"I wouldn't exactly call you miserable."

"Do we have to do this now?" Henry sighed. "For a moment there, I thought we were going to be bonding again."

"You sit there and you tell me that I'm being too hard on Charlotte."

"Because you are!" Henry frowned as he raised his voice.

"Well then, I sincerely apologise if that's how it's coming across to her! Because all I want for that kid, Henry, is to be happy and to succeed in life! I don't want her to end up like us, I want her to be happy!" William began to raise his voice as well and the emotions were beginning to get the better of him.

"An' she is happy!"

"What? Coming here after school every day to talk to fucking robots?"

Henry just stared back at William with a sour look and the other realised what he had just said. William grumbled as he wiped a sweaty hand over his face and looked down.

"It's not doing her any good being here all the time." William's voice was low as he stared at the ground.

"She's not your daughter, William." Henry's voice held gravity and it was supposed to come off as calm but to William it just sounded condescending. "You need to keep that in mind."

William just glared at the floor until he heard the soft thud of Bonnie's footsteps approaching.

"Bonnie, pilot mode!" William raised his voice to call out for the robot.
It halted suddenly in the hallway and he could hear the slight whirring of its circuits.

"What are you doin'?" Henry's shocked voice delighted William for a moment.

He frowned as he tried to push that feeling down but the more he fought it, the more angrier he became. "Get in the suit."

"What?"

William's emotions were running wild but were also poised like a feral predator and waiting to strike. He wasn't thinking clearly and the words were beginning to tumble out of his mouth before he could even fathom what he was saying.

"I said, get in that fucking suit, Emily!" William lifted his glare to pierce Henry and seeing the other's fear-filled face was enough to make him laugh.
William laughed as he watched the horror paint itself over the round man's face. William began to shake his head as his eyes widened but he still continued to laugh. He found Henry's reaction to be nothing short of hilarious but a small voice at the back of his mind was utterly disgusted with his own actions and was equally as terrified. William didn't want to hurt Henry - he was just upset. He had no clue what the fuck he was even saying or doing but it was funny to him regardless.

Why?

Why was the fear on his friend's face and the idea of hurting him so funny to William?

"Fuck!"

William quickly snapped out of it to turn and swiftly left the room as fear spread like wildfire and soon it was consuming his own facial features. He walked past Bonnie without so much as an acknowledgment and he breezed as fast as he had ever gone past the security room just so Steve couldn't see his face and catch him to inquire about it.

All William knew was that he had to reach his car before he started crying. If he broke down here, in front of the children as well as Henry - then he'd never mentally recover from that experience.

He just needed to be alone.

William was no longer laughing as he hugged himself and gritted his teeth. His eyes were full of worry and were beginning to water as he hurriedly speed-walked his way back to the entrance. He kept his head down as he passed by the party booths and the reception desk.

"Liam?" He heard Jess call out in a suspicious tone and he felt her eyes watching him every step of the way.

He didn't hear any footsteps trailing after him so he assumed that he was in clear when it came to Henry and Steve.
But he didn't account for Dave.

William grunted as Dave cornered him at the front door.
Bastards.
All of them. That's what they were.
No! These people were his friends. They didn't hate him... Did they?

William furrowed his brows and bared his teeth as Dave stood in his way, blocking the door. Dave gave him a wary look but didn't back down.
"Come talk with me. Around the back, we'll sit an' just have a nice chat, yeah?"

"Fuck off." William quietly seethed as he felt his spine prickle.

The children were watching them.
The last thing William needed was for the children to bear witness to his mental breakdown and have a reason to be scared of him.

You're a freak, Billy!

William shuddered as he heard a familiar voice sneer at him in his mind. With his eyes closed, Dave made the mistake of reaching for him and when William felt his fingers brush against his arm, he jolted back out of fear for a brief moment before he snarled.

"Get the fuck out of my way!" William harshly whispered as he shoved Dave out of the doorway to the Diner.

Dave didn't fall but he did stumble back slightly and looked flustered as William soon pushed past him. William quickly ducked his head as a lady walked by with two of her little children. William hurried his way across the carpark and did his best to avoid any other human beings until he reached the door to his GNX. He pulled it open with panicked breath and soon threw himself inside. He slammed the door shut and tightly gripped the steering wheel. The afternoon sun had warmed his leather seat and that alone was already beginning to calm him. Inside the car, the world was quiet and William could only hear his ragged breathing as he stared back at the Diner. Dave glanced over his shoulder back at him before he headed back inside. A moment later both Steve and Henry were outside with their heads frantically looking about in search of their colleague.

"No!" William cried out, both in fear and anger as he saw them emerge from the building.
He grunted back his sobs as he turned the keys in his ignition and soon the violet vehicle roared to life.

He wiped his arm across his face in vain to hold back the tears but accidentally smeared his vision and speckled oil across his lips. He grunted as he tasted the tangy liquid in his mouth and briefly looked down to find a napkin. He had quite a few scattered about in the front of his car thanks to all the years of living off of mostly takeaway. He had rolled the car out of its parking lot and had tried to avoid going past the Diner, so he took the long way around to the exit and neared the intersection to turn onto the main road, that was when William took his eyes off the road to look down for a napkin.

That's when it happened.

He honestly didn't think that a group of children would stray this close to the usually busy, main road. But the one time that they did, was the one time where William fucked up. Massively.

He had taken his eyes off the road to find a napkin to clean his dirty face with for only a moment. But in that moment William had made a crucial mistake. One that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

William started in the driver's seat of his car when he heard something hit his car. He was briefly shocked by the impact that he didn't realise that his foot was slowly pressing harder and harder against the accelerator. He gasped and gripped the steering wheel before hitting the brakes as the car horribly and violently shifted beneath him.

He had run something over.

William snatched the gears to stop the car and hurriedly jumped out once he was sure that the vehicle was no longer going to move on its own. The first noise he heard was the horrendous screaming of the witnesses who were standing on the sidewalk a few meters away. He felt the wind as it smacked against his face harshly and as he walked to the front of his car, he dropped to his knees.

He could only see her legs sticking out from under the mouth of his car. The little girl's pink and white shoes that were so small and delicate was the image that burned itself into his mind. He could see the white frills and the edges of her yellow dress but he could not see her face. Her skin was already pale and she wasn't moving.

"Cassidy!"

William's heart flipped as he heard a familiar voice.
But he couldn't bring himself to turn around.

William, despite already knowing that Cassidy was dead, was trying his best to lift his car up so it was no longer crushing her. He was trying to pull it off her with his bare hands so she could breathe.

But she was gone.

"Cassidy!" Her mother screamed as she ran and made it to the edge of William's car before she too collapsed at the sight presented to her.

The woman, known as Haley Lloyd, dropped to her knees harshly and covered her mouth with one hand as her eyes closed. She had tried to muffle her own screams of despair and pain but the horrid noise only served to terrify William as his eyes widened. He couldn't lift the car, he couldn't save the girl.

"William! William!"

The man in the purple jeans grunted and finally let go of his car when two burly-thick arms wrapped themselves around his waist and pulled him away.

William shook his head as tears soon spilled from his eyes. "I didn't see her, Henry!"

"I know, I know." Henry tightly hugged him to hold him in place and tried his best to comfort his friend from the traumatic sight.

His voice was drowned out by the screaming around them. Like an unheard cry for help as the fire consumed the forest and his voice was like the embers being carried by the wind until they died out.

William cried. "It was an accident!"