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heavenlyheartsclub · 2 months

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SEPTEMBER: A FNAF SELF SHIP FIC

CHAPTER ONE: DO YOU REMEMBER THE 21ST NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER?

“To have ended up here, surely isn’t without purpose.”

“We have been sent to deliver a message.”

“Oh?”

“We have observed, We have learned. This festering wound, will soon come to ruin.”

“As it should. It once was promising, but I’ve seen this fate coming ever since that day. Do as you will, if it is destined.”

“We have a proposal.”

“Do you now?”

“Of Us, They pity this existence. They refuse to leave this place without a chance.”

“Ha, a chance? It has been given far too many chances. It is the heart of it, a never ending cycle. A preprogrammed system. You are wasting your time. Will you too continue to dig up what has been buried countless times?”

“You speak truth. This end result would be certain in this system. Yet, is a system not capable of modification? They have created this, a new factor. We ask of you, one more test. One more run. If it too is to fail, We will grant release.”

“I cannot lie to you, I am just a bit curious. I will grant your request, but please, humor this old soul. What factor could possibly be great enough to offer hope to this sorry body?”

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

The shrill of Elodie’s phone alarm filled her ears, waking her out of a deep sleep. She groaned, turning it off and checking the time. 7:25 AM, September 21st. She squinted incredulously as she made her way to the bathroom. Was September almost over already? It felt like the year had just begun, yet time passed so quickly. She scrolled absentmindedly as she buttoned up her work shirt. Memes, cute pet pictures, talk of that fire that happened a few months ago, and oh, it was September 21st in that famous song wasn’t it? A video of a skeleton dancing to said song reminded them as it appeared on their timeline. Smiling she pressed play, humming to the melody as she brushed her hair. She tied it into a braid, binding it with a dark blue scrunchy that matched her jeans. They took a moment to try and suppress two cowlicks on either side of their head for the umpteenth time, but they persistently sprung back up. Huffing in frustration, they gave up. Whatever, the “hair horns” won again. No one seemed to mind them anyways, their coworker April even found them cute.

Elodie shifted to straightening their name tag. On it was the classic writing, “Hello! My name is Elodie.” The name written in a somewhat fancy font, doodles of stars at the end. She smiled, a funny sense of pride in her chest. It was just a name tag, but the ability to customize it made them feel like an individual instead of just another faceless employee. It was one of the many things she loved about working at a family owned business. They moved on to making themselves breakfast, taking a moment to doodle as they ate. She lifted her sketchbook to look at her progress, which consisted of rough sketches of fictional characters, specifically robots. Elodie furrowed her brow. When had she gotten back into robots anyways?

Right, April. She’s the one that brought up Transformers and got them hooked. Speaking of which…Elodie headed over to the living room to take an old VHS out of the shelf. Turning it over, it read “The Transformers: The Movie.” Popping it open, she could see the name of her coworker written on the tape. “Almost forgot you buddy.” She said, putting it alongside her sketchbook into a backpack. A ping went off on her phone, reminding her it was time to head out. She carried her pack out to her car, tossing it in the passenger’s seat before getting in herself. Turning the ignition key, she headed off. The early morning sky was starting to brighten, sunlight breaking through the treeline surrounding the neighborhood. She rolled down the window, letting the cool air in. She’d usually play music, but something about the serene feeling today called for good old fashioned silence. The suburbs were left behind as the car got into town, the muffled sounds of the now waking world filling her ears. Elodie took in the sights of her home, even though she knew them by heart. No matter how many times she passed them, the warm feeling of a quaint little town never dulled.

Sundown Arcade, the Trimart gas station, the local library, and the K-12 school on the hill next to Hurkey Woods were just a few staples. Elodie stopped at a crosswalk of the last, watching as a line of children crossed alongside parents and teachers. A man in a pink head bandanna and apron led a little chain of three kids, each one younger than the last. The smallest, a brunette boy with huge shining eyes, took a moment to take his thumb out of his mouth to wave at Elodie. With a giggle she waved back, the man catching the interaction and waving back himself, before continuing to lead the kids to the other side of the road. Driving on, they couldn’t help but think about the interaction that just occurred. That was another thing that they liked, the citizens . Despite not knowing each other well, they were all interconnected. She wondered what each of their daily lives were like. Yet of everything in town, there was one place that Elodie loved most.

Almost on queue, a large old marquee sign came into view, standing proudly over it’s parking lot. Behind it was the theater, an old building still equipped with retro finishings, adorned in a variety of lights and decals shaped like celestial bodies. In large billboard letters read, “Twilight Theater” complete with a giant prop of a shooting star hanging overhead. Pulling around to the back, she parked in one of the designated staff spots. Elodie approached a back entrance, pushing an emergency fire exit open and into the winding corridors of the theater. Their sneakers were greeted by classic arcade style carpets as they entered, taking in the scent of fresh popcorn in the air. Towards the back of the space was a door labeled “Employee Lounge.” Heading in she input the code for her employee locker, setting her belongings inside. A greeting was said behind her, and she turned to see April.

“Good morning! How are you doing?”

“Alright, just a bit tired, got to sleep a bit late last night.” April replied with a stretch. “How about you?”

“I’m good! Why’d you have trouble sleeping? Was it Sid again?”

“Yep, they’ve been having a bit of a hard time with that whole Pizzaplex fiasco that happened, they keep wanting to go back, even though that’s pretty much impossible now.” Sid was April’s little sibling, a cute bright eyed kid with tons of energy and creativity, they had to be only about 6 or 7 now.

“Aw yeah, that was pretty terrible huh? I can’t imagine how many kids must be upset they can’t see the cool animatronics there, I heard they were really life-like. But like, that plaza belonged to a huge company right? I’m sure they’ll rebuild again.”

“Yeah hope so, the bots over there made great babysitters, Sid was always knocked out after their visits. Now that it’s closed, I gotta wrestle that little guy to even try and get them to bed.”

The two shared a laugh, when Elodie suddenly remembered the tape. “Oh I totally almost forgot! Here.” Slipping the pack off their shoulder and digging into one of the side pockets, Elodie took out the thick plastic case and handed it to April. “Um, thanks for letting me borrow your Transformers Movie VHS. I’ve always wanted to watch it.”

With a smile April took the VHS case, flipping it over to look at the cover. “No problem. Man, I can’t believe you still have a VHS player. The only reason I still have this movie is cause I forgot to sell it back when I moved houses.”

“I thought it was because it’s Sid’s favorite movie. Y’know, the one where every time they want to watch it, they beg you to go to your aunt’s house since she still has an old TV set up?”

“Yeah, that too.” “But unlike Sid, the only reason you wanted to watch it is because of your little crush on Starscream.”

Elodie stuttered, blushing. “It is not a crush! I just think he’s a very interesting character!”

“Oh yeah, sure. And that’s why you have to rewind every scene he’s in like 5 times.”

“Not that much!!”

“So you admit you still do though, huh?”

“I don’t know why I tell you about my interests.” She grumbled, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms.

“Aw c’mon, I think it’s cute! Imagine, your boring ordinary life suddenly being changed by the appearance of some robotic Romeo. One who sweeps you up into his strong metallic arms and whisks you off on some sort of high action sci fi adventure, where unexpectedly you fall in love!” April clasped her hands together, batting her eyelashes dramatically.

Elodie rolled their eyes with a smirk. “Anything would be better then spending my days scrubbing vomit off the theater carpets.” The two laughed, but were cut short by their manager Simon popping into the break room.

“Oh hey, glad to see you two, sorry to cut into your chat. April, the slushie machine’s getting low, could you get a fresh tank from the back and refill?”

“Sure.” April patted Elodie’s shoulder, whispering in her ear as she passed by. “See ya later, robot lover.” She snickered, making her coworker’s face flush a light red.

Simon stepped over to Elodie, brow raised incredulously. “So, you mind me asking what you two were talking about?”

“N-nothing! Oh look the trash hasn’t been taken out yet! Well l better get it, bye!!” She stuttered, hurrying out of the room.

~~~~~~~

Elodie hummed to herself as she swept the entranceway, a small collection of candy wrappers and popcorn piling up. The midday hustle and bustle had started to falter, with only outgoing movie goers passing through. The murmurs of after movie thoughts and muffled film audio had become a comforting white noise, one that offered a small reprieve from the day’s stresses.

Though she knew it was a bit wrong, she would eavesdrop on a conversation once in a while. Despite the first allure of working at a theater, Elodie quickly found it wasn’t quite so exciting. Listening in on the occasional chat helped entertain her. Said chats were pretty normal, friends asking how each other’s day was and talk about media they’d recently seen. Yet today, Elodie found themselves on the tail end of a rather strange one. Next to the bathrooms, two teens were talking in somewhat hushed tones. One in baggy jean shorts and a hoodie leant against the wall, while the other in a beanie and oversized t-shirt fidgeted nervously. The latter leaned in as the other spoke, seemingly transfixed on what they were saying. Elodie found herself craning her neck to hear better.

“….no way, are you serious?” T-shirt spoke.

“Course I am, why would I lie about that? Besides, I heard it from my brother, it happened to his classmate.”

“But really? Are you really telling me there’s some kind of monster in Hurkey Woods?” Elodie’s eyes widened, a monster?

“Totally, Alex’s classmate saw it with his own eyes. Y’see, he was out just chilling and having a smoke one night, right? Then he said outta nowhere he hears something above him, in the trees.”

“In the trees??”

“Oh yeah, but that’s not the worst part. Right when he was starting to feel a bit creeped out, he felt like someone was burning holes in the back of his head, super intense. Then all of a sudden, these claws appear from the darkness, and frickin’ put his cigarette out. While it was still in his mouth!”

“Holy crap..!”

“Yeah, Alex told me the dude was so freaked out he ran away screaming. Honestly though, he sounds like such a crybaby. I woulda clocked that thing in the face.”

“Yeah right! You would’ve wet yourself just from hearing a twig snap!”

“Shut it. What about you? You don’t even wanna go in the woods past sunset.”

“That’s cause unlike you, I actually like living. Good luck being minced meat for some freaky forest beast.” As the teens continued to bicker, Elodie was left in thought.

Was that kid serious? Was there really sightings of some sort of terrifying creature in the woods? In this town? If you looked up the word “uneventful” in the dictionary, their town would probably come up. In her entire time living here she had never heard of anything out of the ordinary. In fact, she had checked archives for any possible mysteries surrounding the area, but came up empty.

Excitement bubbled up in her chest, finally something truly interesting was happening in this sleepy little town. They loved their job, their friends, their home, but they had to admit they had been stuck in a rut for a long time. Routine had worn them out, and this was the opportunity to have a little adventure. Coincidentally she had the weekend off, and now she knew just how to spend it.

~~~~~~~

The evening air was cool, a light breeze drifting through the pine forest. The sun dipping below the horizon. Elodie had taken a well known route from near the school into the woods, one usually traveled on by families. The forest spread from the start of town to the neighborhood, and traveled on a ways before stopping at the next city over. It mostly skirted the edge of town, and you’d have to go in purposefully if you wanted to explore. They realized how counterintuitive it was to try and find something elusive on the safest and most popular trail around, but they would rather be cautious.

So they continued on, flashlight in hand and stun gun at their side. Some of Elodie’s coworkers thought it overkill to carry a mini weapon when she went out, but considering she was a petite person that had often been mistaken for a middle schooler, she found it more than justified. Worst case scenario, she’d have to shock some creep who was getting a little too friendly. In honesty, that idea filled them with more dread than some chance encounter with a cryptid. She highly doubted she’d find anything out here anyways, the impromptu monster hunt was more of an excuse to take a nice walk through the woods than anything. Besides the possible monster, there was something else out here they were looking for.

At the sight of a path peaking through the tall grass, excitement ran through Elodie’s chest. They couldn’t help but quicken their pace, pushing into the secret oasis. Illuminated by flashlight was the form of a playground, abandoned and well worn by the elements. Elodie hadn’t been able to visit the place when it was still maintained, but that didn’t matter, she liked it better this way. They immediately climbed up a rock wall on the side of one of the taller structures, wobbling their way across one of those shaky rope bridges to a slide. Stepping up to the platform, they looked over the area. Her own little wonderland, a much needed escape from the dullness of adulthood that gave her the chance to let loose and be childish, the way she wished she could be more openly, more often. After taking in the scenery, they turned their attention to the entrance of a tube slide. With a little chuckle they sat at the entrance, readying themself. 3…2…1…go!

Elodie put her hands above her head as she went down, giggling madly. As she turned a small curve, her fingertips brushed against something. She tumbled forward as she exited, catching herself before she could fall. “What…was that?” It didn’t feel like it was a part of the slide, but more…textured? She climbed back in to investigate. She angled the flashlight inside, tilting her head to to see the object. It looked like a piece of paper wedged into the seams of the tube. There was something on it, but it was hard to tell at the angle in the small space. Grabbing it, she hissed as a small corner tore off before freeing itself. She slid back down, paper in hand, deciding to rest on one of the swings to examine it closer.

The paper was crumpled and seemingly singed. It looked as if it had been scrawled on in crayon, depicting a colorful setting Elodie couldn’t quite identify. It featured what appeared to be a small girl in a pink dress, smiling happily while she held hands with…something. It was humanoid in shape, adorned in dark blue. She would have assumed it was a parent if not for its strange proportions, a tall and looming figure with arms dangling at its sides. Half of the face was obscured by shadow, but featured prominent red eyes. A far too large smile was etched into the face. She tore her gaze away from the drawing. This whole scenario felt like something out of a cheesy horror movie, it had to be a prank. Yet the nauseous feeling in their stomach persisted, convinced it was very real. Stealing a glance one more time, she noticed a name scribbled over the figure’s head. Squinting, they tried to decipher it. “M….M….O…O…? Moo-?”

In an instant a force grasped at Elodie’s throat, world blurring as her feet left the ground. The flashlight and paper fell from her hands as she clawed at whatever held her throat, her heart dropping at the sensation of cold almost metallic fingers wrapped around it. Gaze darting up in panic, their eyes met with bright red ones. A crushed scream struggled from their throat as they thrashed violently, the obscured figure tilting its head as if it were a curious dog. Eden felt flakes of rust fall onto their face as the squirmed, realizing they were coming off of the decaying swing set. With a sudden realization, they used the last of their quickly fading strength to throw their legs upward full force, smacking into the top support beam of the decrepit structure. It shook violently, setting the creature off balance for just long enough to loosen its grip. Elodie slipped out of its grasp and tumbled to the ground. Pushing herself forward, she sprinted off into the woods.

With no sense of direction she ran as fast as she could, barely avoiding obstacles on the forest floor. It was all instinct at that point, they were prey to some unknown horror, some predator. A harsh grinding sound and the rustling of foliage followed close behind. Elodie looked up to search for the end of the tree line, but only saw endless woods. Instead she caught a glimpse of something leaping into the air, the large figure silhouetted against the moon for just a moment. It suddenly landed in front of her, clinging to a large oak tree like a lizard. The faint shape of its head turned and turned, more than should be naturally possible, till it was completely upside down. Her heart dropped as she realized she wasn’t able to stop her momentum, running straight towards it. At the last moment she threw all her weight to one side, ducking down and sliding a sharp right, nearly missing the thing attempting to snatch her. She skidded hard but got back into full acceleration, escaping into a more open space. Just about twenty or so feet ahead was a giant dead tree that appeared hollowed out, a knothole entrance conveniently open at the bottom. Their lungs and legs felt like they were on fire and desperately needed rest, they couldn’t go on much longer.

But for once being tiny was about to pay off. Elodie shoved themself into the narrow entrance, squeezing in so forcefully she popped out the other side, flopping onto something that crinkled loudly under her weight. Looking around, a pit formed in their stomach. They were surrounded by papers, each a children’s drawing like the one she had found earlier. The same etched smile stared at her from all angles, illuminated underneath the moonlight from above. Wait. Above? The light suddenly went out, a large form casting a shadow over her. For a brief second she could see it, crawling in from the top of the hollow tree, before it came crashing down on her with a clang. The weight knocked the wind out of them as it immediately pinned down her arm. A cacophony of garbled noise escaped from the creature, as if i hissing in anger. She tried to dig her nails into it, but found the surface to be hard, only injuring herself in the process. Elodie was running out of options quick, as she felt her throat being squeezed. She could feel her head go fuzzy, fighting to stay conscious.

She wildly grabbed at everything around her as the pressure on her windpipe increased, till she found her grasp around a rectangular object at her side. The stun gun! In their adrenaline high state they had forgotten about the tool, and managed to unlatch it from their belt loop. Taking in what little breath she could through her nose, she screwed her eyes shut and thrust the weapon into the neck of the creature. Immediately the blue and white light of electricity lit up the dark hollow, crackling loudly as it made contact, the sound mixing with unearthly screeches. The smell of smoke filled the air as the monster suddenly went limp, falling into a tangled heap across her legs. Elodie ripped the fingers off of her throat, struggling to get out from under the creature. Once she had pulled the gangly form off of her for long enough to free herself, she scrambled out of the hollow, landing with an exhausted thud.

They laid there in the opening for what felt like hours, though it had been probably only minutes. Heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of their chest, their breaths ragged and desperate. Waiting until she felt she had taken in as much air as her lungs would allow, she forced herself into a sitting position. She stared at the knothole she just escaped from, now a few yards away from her, muscles tense and ready to flee at the slightest movement. Yet everything remained eerily quiet, only the sound of their breathing filling the space. They could see the arm of the creature laying limp outside of the hole, a large hand with long fingers curled stiffly, as if dead. They had expected claws, paws, talons. Yet the appendage was clearly a humanoid. What in the world was this thing?

Despite every inch of her body screaming at her to get the HELL out of there, something at the back of her mind tugged desperately. A little voice telling her she had to know what just attacked her. So despite everything, she listened. Standing up on shaky legs she took a few hesitant steps forward, both hands firmly gripped on the stun gun held out in front of her. Inching closer, she could start making out the finer details of the arm. The limb appeared segmented at the finger joints, wrist, and elbow, colored a mix of off white and deep blue. Even closer the “skin” appeared to be cracked. But not in the way it would on a person. The cracks were ridged and random like those in a sidewalk, with one opening up along the upper forearm into a sizable crevice. Peering into it something glint in the moonlight.

All fear suddenly flew out the window, replaced by overwhelming curiosity. Elodie took a nearby stick and prodded at the thing’s arm, to no reaction. She continued to fumble with the crevice on its arm, concluding that the glint had been wires. Certain now that this thing was well, dead might have not been the right word. Unconscious? Broken? She let her guard down, tugging on the hand hard to try and pull the creature out. It took some adjustments, but she managed to do it. It helped that it was surprisingly flexible, squeezing out of the knothole fairly easily once she got the right grip on it. It was still dark out, even with the moonlight, but Elodie could see the rough outline of what it was. It was humanoid in shape, two arms, two legs, and a head like a disk. It smelled of burnt metal and smoke, though they weren’t sure if it was from the stun gun or not. There was one last thing of note on the “monster,” and that was that it was freakishly tall. What they originally assumed as organic in nature, was instead, a machine.

Why was a robot out here stalking the wilderness? If it was actively programmed by someone to do something sinister, then why was it in such disrepair? And even so, they hadn’t heard of any injuries or disappearances, the most they knew of was this thing spooking a teenager. It had only appeared after she took the drawing. Speaking of it, the little girl in it didn’t appear to be scared if the machine. The same could be said for the other children she had gotten a glimpse of in the other drawings. They were all smiling, content and not in the least afraid of the creature, er, robot, next to them. The one she was coming to realize in that moment, had kept these drawings. They had been hidden carefully in safe spots like the inside of the slide and in the hollowed out tree, safe from the elements. They must have meant a lot to it, and some stranger coming in and ripping it out of its safe place (though she didn’t mean to) probably seemed like a threat.

A new pain tugged at her heart, not fear, but pity. Perhaps she was anthropomorphizing it too much, but all of its actions seemed scarily life like. Maybe it was just attacking to defend itself? To defend the drawings? She shook her head, this was all too overwhelming. Their strength was practically gone and they were beyond tired. All they wanted to do now was go home and sleep for a thousand years.

But she couldn’t just leave them here, this machine had to belong to someone. It was lost, probably malfunctioning, and definitely worse for wear. If it had broken, then it was going to just sit and rot here, or be picked at for scraps by random people. She shuddered at the thought, as if leaving it here were a death sentence. Suddenly remembering her phone, she searched her pockets to find it there and in tact. There wasn’t any signal out her to call anyone, though she wasn’t sure who she would even call, but her wireless gps still worked. Now that she had known the approximate way home, all that was left was trying to figure out how to get the robot there.

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