There’s danger in pride…Cocky high schooler Dylan thinks he’s invincible, until a new perspective changes his mind. Mary enjoys taking risky bets to relieve her boredom with life, but learns real entertainment has a price. And Bill makes a desperate romantic gesture in hopes of keeping his girlfriend from leaving him, endangering them both. In the punishing world of Five Nights at Freddy’s, pride always comes before the fall.
Story 1: In His Head
“Let’s do this.” Dylan grinned.
He stepped onto the dusty stage and pulled back the worn curtains to see the entrance to backstage.
“Dylan…you sure about this?”
He turned back to see Rick, looking nervous.
Dylan stared for a moment, then laughed. “Wait, do you actually believe those dumb old stories?”
Of course, with the restaurant’s storied history, those legends could have been anything. A shadowy murderer in a bunny costume, maybe, or those weird indie games (Dylan had played one once. Pretty good, but a ridiculous plot- haunted robots? Come on.) But Dylan knew exactly what Rick was so anxious about.
“Dude, teens have been hanging out at Fredbear’s ever since it was abandoned- what, about thirty years ago? Except for that one time, no one’s so much as stubbed a toe here!”
Exasperated, Rick groaned. “And that one time was someone who…”
Dylan smirked. “Went backstage, I know. Died a gruesome death mere hours later, bla bla bla. What, you think the spooky ghosts got him?”
“You remember my mom’s a police officer and saw it, right? That guy was in his bathroom, no picked lock or broken windows, and-” He paused. “My mom’s been to dozens of crime scenes, and she said she’s never seen anything remotely like it before. Like someone had dropped a barrelful of swords on his head.”
Dylan narrowed his eyes, growing annoyed. “Coincidences happen, Rick. Our parents have turned one dumb thing into their justification for keeping us out of this dopel place forever. Now, are you gonna keep watch for me or what?”
Rick sighed. “Fine. Your funeral.”
“I’m sure.” Dylan chuckled.
He walked off into the darkness.
Well, it was creepy. Dylan would give it that.
A naked endoskeleton sat on a bench against a wall, surrounded by small parts and tools, its blank eyes reflecting the beam of his flashlight. Old colored lights covered the floor, lenses shattered. A greasy pizza box sat on a small table with some kind of fungus growing out what was left of a slice.
So, yes, scary.
But also, it was the coolest place ever.
Dylan ran through the dusty place. He found a box full of cardboard character cutouts, and broke them in two one by one.
“Oh no, pwease!” he cried mockingly as he snapped the last one on his knee. “Don’t hurt me, mean ghosts!”
He went to the kitchen and found some old cans of soda. Flicking the tab open on one, he took a huge sip. Sitting nearby was a small bobblehead of a golden bear holding a cupcake. “Oh, am I drinking your soda? So sorry.”
He poured the rest on the bobblehead. The brown bubbles fizzed against the pale yellow plastic.
The golden bear animatronic… say, was he or that bunny still here?
Dylan exited the kitchen to see a sign over a plain door reading Animatronic Repairs.
The quiet halls echoed with the sounds of his steps as he ran to check it out. He threw the door open to see-
Huh.
A mostly empty room. No tools, no parts, no endoskeletons, and no shiny golden animatronics.
Only a table near the back of the room.
“Eh, they were probably sent to the junkyard or something.” Dylan turned to leave-but then he noticed something on the table.
He focused his light on it.
Fredbear stared right back at him.
Dylan jumped back, startled. Shaking, he raised his flashlight again to get another look
It wasn’t the whole animatronic or suit.
Just the head, empty eyes staring right at him.
Even before he had entirely calmed from the sight, one thought started echoing through his head.
Souvenir.
“If the rest was scrapped, why leave the head?” Rick asked as they walked home, streetlights doing little to cut through the dark night.
Dylan adjusted the head in his arms. “Maybe someone rescued it ‘cause they thought it’d be cool to have. Don’t know why they wouldn’t take it home.” He snickered. “Unless they live in the diner.”
Rick frowned. “But is it an animatronic?”
“No, some kind of suit, I think.” He stuck his hand in through the head hole and out the eye. “No robot parts- or ghosts. I know you were worried about that.”
“Shut up.” Rick muttered. “I would like to get a closer look, though.”
“That’s fine, but it’ll have to wait ‘till tomorrow.” Dylan tapped his watch. “I have to be home in ten minutes or my parents will flip.”
“Alright.” Rick said. “I’ll be there late morning.”
“See you.”
Dylan placed the head on his shelf. He sighed, relieved his parents had bought his story about finding it at a garage sale.
Normally he’d stay up a little later, but he was pretty exhausted. He hit the lights and crashed into bed.
Not thirty seconds had passed when he noticed something. He pushed himself up to see two pinpricks of white light- right where the head was positioned.
Heart racing, he jumped out of bed to the switch, quickly flicking the lights back on.
Fredbear’s eyes were dark and vacant again.
Dylan groaned. Rick’s ghost stories had gotten to him. Though… they had looked real…
Maybe there were old lights or something. Seemed unlikely, but worth a try.
He grabbed the head, and put it on to get a better look at the inside.
He noticed a few things that were off.
For one, no lights.
Second, there were animatronic parts in the head, strange metallic pieces with little spikes on the end. Dylan was confused, but guessed they were probably how the head attached to an endoskeleton.
Maybe.
A little harder to explain was the fact he was no longer in his house.
Through the empty eye holes Dylan could see a dark hallway, empty save for a door at the end on the right wall.
Panicked, he threw up the mask to try to get a better look.
He only saw his own room.
“Wha-what just-”
Nervously, he lowered the mask once more.
He had returned to the hall.
Shaking, he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It was too dark to see much, but he could tell he was looking around a corner.
Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the darkness. It got right in Dylan’s eyes, and he cringed from the brightness. As he did, he felt something strange- his body moving, seemingly on its own, slinking into the darkness around the corner.
His vision went black for a moment, and his perspective shifted. Suddenly he was standing in an identical hallway, except the door was on the left wall, and he was right next to it.
Over the sound of his heart racing, Dylan could hear heavy breathing that wasn’t his own. The door opened, and he could make out a figure standing in the entrance. The figure stood there for a moment, tensed, then slammed the door.
Again his perspective shifted. He sat on a bed, staring straight forward. To either side he saw doors- the ones he had just been outside of. And in front of him, again, was the figure.
Dylan tried to shout, to yell to the person to run, but no need. They turned around and flashed their light, and Dylan moved once more.
He wasn’t sure where he was now. There was a sliver of light in front of him, like a barely opened door.
Finally taking a moment to calm down, to try to understand what was happening. He looked down- to see this wasn’t his body.
It was an enormous, ragged form. His arms were huge, with sharp claws at the ends of his fingers. His torso was covered in holes, through which there was some kind of robotic skeleton visible. One horizontal slit at belly button level covered the width of his stomach, filled with bloodied teeth like a weird mouth. His entire body was covered in faux, matted golden fur.
Before Dylan could even begin to grapple with what was going on, he watched as the enormous paws pried the doors open. The body he couldn’t control stomped out of what he could now see was the closet.
The figure, who had been checking the left door, turned, and Dylan finally got a good look.
He was tall, and looked to be about Dylan’s age. He had tanned skin, a muscular build, and dark brown hair. He also looked like he hadn’t slept in days- maybe weeks. And he was crying.
When he saw Dylan’s monstrous form he backed against the door, looking like he was- well, Dylan couldn’t really tell. Scared certainly, but also heartbroken, or ashamed?
Over the creaking of his body’s animatronic parts Dylan could hear the boy whisper “I’m sorry- I didn’t- didn’t want this…”
The monster ignored him. It took one more step, raised his arm to slash the boy across the chest, and-
An alarm beeped.
And Dylan’s view shifted one last time.
He was no longer in a bedroom.
He was in Fredbear’s- but not the dilapidated one he had visited earlier that night.
It was bright, and the tables were covered in trays of pizza and plates of cupcakes. Balloons hung from every wall. Music was playing.
And it was coming from Fredbear.
Fredbear, in all of his golden glory, singing some eighties tunes.
His vision was blurred with tears- he didn’t want to get any closer to Fredbear
But he was.
The boy. He was wearing a mask, but the boy from the bedroom was carrying him towards the robot as he laughed. A couple of other teens were helping, each wearing a mask as well.
They were at the base of the stage.
The boy said something Dylan couldn’t make out.
He was thrust upward, up into the mouth of the machine.
Dylan had had enough. He was about to to move to take the head off when he noticed-
Those metal things were shifting, spinning, unwinding, seemingly becoming more loose with every move he had made.
He stood absolutely still.
They stopped.
He felt relieved.
From the head’s eyeholes, a tear fell.
It hit one of the parts.
Something moved.
Fredbear bit down.
The world went red.
“Hey Mrs Andrews!” Rick said as he walked into the house.
“Oh, hey, Rick!” Dylan’s mom said. “Dylan mentioned you’d be coming over this morning. He’s in his room.” She laughed. “Still sleeping.”
Rick rushed upstairs. He came to Dylan’s bedroom and knocked. “Wake up dude, I wanna see the head!”
No answer.
“Well, I told him I was coming over.” Rick reasoned. He let himself in.
He quickly realized the head wasn’t here. It was huge and still shiny through the stains and mildew, so if it was in the room he’d notice.
He looked at the floor.
Dylan laid there, pale, head covered in ruptures and surrounded by a pool of blood.
Rick screamed.
It sat there, on the table deep within Fredbear’s. The head, empty once more and clean save for dust, stared at the entrance, ready to tell its story again.
Story 2: A Good Laugh
Mary stared at the old, decrepit establishment. Circus Baby’s Pizza World had been left practically untouched since it had closed. It was only open for a day, then gas leaks had shut it down.
At least, that’s what had officially happened. Rumors had circulated ever since that it was a cover-up, a sugary sweet coating to hide yet another Fazbear Entertainment tragedy. And of course, the ghost stories followed.
Mary wasn’t complaining. If not for this place’s haunted past, she doubted Hellen and Sasha would have bet her 100 dollars to stay there overnight. She’d done much crazier things just to prove she could.
She smiled, thinking of the time she’d climbed onto the roof in elementary school, or stuck a ‘Kick Me’ sign to Mr Weever during his chemistry lecture, or stolen a chocolate bar from the grocery store when she was ten.
Honestly, at this point in life, Mary was just bored. She understood perfectly well these bets were to compensate for that, but she didn’t care. And anyway, if sleeping in a creepy building for a few hours got her 100 bucks richer, then all the better.
She opened the door and went inside.
What she saw…disappointed her.
No animatronics or arcade games-heck, no chairs, tables or stage. It appeared everything inside had been scrapped or sold when the restaurant closed.
Some might consider that a relief. Who wanted a giant clown robot staring at you all night?
Answer: Mary. Anything that would have cranked up the tension, get the adrenaline flowing, Mary was all for. Instead, all she had was a milk crate laying bottom up on the checkered floor and a thick coating of dust.
She sighed and sat on the crate. It was going to be a long night.
Mary was jolted awake, and nearly fell off the crate. She groaned, rubbed her eyes, and looked at her watch. 2:00 AM. At least she’d gotten through a couple hours of this snoozefest.
But what had woken her up?
It didn’t take long to realize. Half awake as she was, Mary could clearly hear some playful music coming from a room adjacent to this main one.
Curious, she stood up and snuck over to the doorway. She peeked around the edge, and saw something odd.
An arcade machine- sort of. It had a coin slot on it, and looked about the size of a normal one. But it didn’t look like any kind of game Mary had ever seen before.
It looked like a large old-fashioned TV- antennas, slightly bulged out screen, and dials that didn’t appear to do anything. It was clearly designed to look like it was from the fifties or sixties.
The screen displayed a video of a strange character. It was some kind of fox with shiny white skin. It had orange markings on its face, and bright purple cheeks and lipstick.
The fox began speaking over the cheerful music. “H-hey, kids. It’s me, your old pal Lolbit! Just dep-pos-pos-posit payment in the slot be-below, and I’ll tell you a joke that’ll have you in stitches!”
The character started talking about their variety show, which Mary figured was some dumb character backstory.
Jokes, huh? They were most likely lame question and answer riddles- glorified puns- but there really wasn’t anything else to do.
On the floor of the room there were a few Faz-Tokens. Some kid had probably dropped them or something.
Shrugging, she picked one up and slid it into the slot.
“Alright, Lolbit.” Mary chuckled. “What’ve you got?”
Lolbit, who had already started to cycle through the message again, immediately cut straight to the pre recorded joke.
Mary listened to it.
And laughed.
But not any kind of ironic laughter about it being a stupid kid joke.
Real, legitimate, gut busting laughter.
Mary hadn’t laughed this hard in years. It was weird- thinking about it, she couldn’t quite hold in her mind what Lolbit had said. But it had been funny, and that’s all that mattered.
Mary eventually composed herself, and stopped convulsing from the hilarity of it all. Right away she knew: she needed more.
So she scooped up another token, and paid.
It didn’t take too long for her to run out. The moment she got over one joke, she loaded in a token to get the next.
Finally, Lolbit finished another joke she couldn’t comprehend and didn’t need to to find it funny, and she realized there was nothing left.
“No, no, no!” she groaned, feeling the room’s dark corners for any coins she’d missed. Mary came up empty handed.
She put her head in her hands and gritted her teeth. She needed those jokes. Compared to them, everything else in life seemed pale and dull.
CLICK-SHVVV-VMMM!
Mary turned to see the coin slot. Something weird was happening. The metals that made it up were shifting, forming a new shape. No longer a slit a few millimeters wide, it was now a hole about the diameter of her thumb. Inside there was a pointy needle that glinted in the dark recess. And the symbol above it, which had previously been a golden Faz Token, was now a drop of red liquid.
Mary stared at it. Logic broke through in the back of her mind, telling her this situation was crazy. This had to be some kind of dream. And if it wasn’t, then she shouldn’t do this. Hell, she should leave, and never come back.
The rest of her mind seemed much more reasonable, though. She would leave, and then what? Sneak into another abandoned building? Commit another misdemeanor? What could be better than this?
This right here was the height of entertainment, and it was well worth the price of admission.
So she stuck her finger into the hole, and paid.
Mary rolled back on the floor, cackling with glee. The hundred or so jokes since the payment changed had been even better. Sure, her fingers were bloodied, raw, and a little maimed, but these hilarious bits were more than enough to distract from the pain.
Pushing herself back up to get another one, she was dismayed to see the metal shifting once again.
“Aww, come on, Lolbit.” Mary groaned. “I have so much more to give!”
Oh well. Whatever the new price, Mary was sure it’d be fair.
This change was much more drastic. The hole grew much larger. The needle retreated back into the darkness. Strangest of all, a blade practically burst out of the side, like that of a guillotine paper cutter.
Confused, Mary moved it. The blade slashed across the hole. The hole that was about the size of…
“Oh!” Mary chuckled. “Well, if you insist.”
She raised the blade back up, slid her bloodstained arm elbow deep in the hole, and…
Wait.
This was- this was insane. What was she doing?
She stared in confusion at the screen.
Lolbit flashed a toothy grin at her and winked.
Mary paused. Her mind reoriented, and she smiled and winked back.
She pushed the blade down, and paid.
“Come on, Sash!” Hellen said as they walked into the building. “We gotta see if Mary’s still here.”
“This was a dumb bet.” Sasha groaned. “We’ll both be out fifty dollars.”
“Oh, come on. Mary likes this kind of stuff, but no one in their right mind would stay here overnight.” Hellen grinned. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey Mary! Are you still here or did Circus Baby eat you?”
From the adjacent room, a weak laugh echoed. “Oh- h-hey guys- haha- in here. You gotta see this-heh.”
Sasha glared at Hellen, who dashed towards the doorway. “What- there’s no way she actually he-”
The blood drained from her face, and she froze.
Sasha walked over. “What, what is i-”
She saw it.
A strange arcade machine, covered in cobwebs, looking like it hadn’t been activated in decades. But that wasn’t the horrifying part.
The machine was literally bursting at the seams with limbs and blood. A broken arm with exposed bone pushed out one crack, as if it was trying to escape the metal prison. Flesh and pus oozed out the thin coin slot. An ear had been pushed to behind the deactivated screen, leaving a slimy red trail as it had been forced up. Mangled toes busted out the panel used for collecting tokens, their nails cracked.
And Mary laid there on the ground, still giggling. Disemboweled and lacerated as she was, she turned her head towards them and smiled, several teeth missing (currently stuffed into the circuits).
She examined their beyond horrified faces. “You know, I just heard a really good joke…”
Somewhere in the depths of the machine, Lolbit smiled contentedly. It always felt nice to give someone a good laugh.
Story 3: In Love
Bill laughed.
Clara didn’t.
Bill suddenly felt very subconscious. That line from the movie had been really funny- right? Had he misinterpreted it? Did she think he was weird?
Clara chuckled. “Took a second to land.” she admitted.
Bill nervously smiled. False alarm. He was just glad that Clara and him were on the same wavelength for once.
They had dated for almost a full year, but these last three or four months had been hard. There were lots of little squabbles, and at least a few full blown fights that had lasted days. Lately, it felt like they were walking on eggshells whenever they were around each other.
Still, when they got along it was perfect. This was one of those better days: curled up on a couch in her apartment, snacking on popcorn, and laughing together.
Something still felt off, though. Clara seemed sad, like there was something she had to do she wasn’t going to enjoy. But Bill was a master of overanalysis, so it was probably fine.
Clara stood up suddenly. “I gotta go to the bathroom.”
Bill grabbed the remote and paused the movie mid-explosion. “Alright, but try not to take too long! I want to see how this one ends.”
She smiled softly. “I’ll try.” Clara walked out of sight.
Bill drummed his fingers on the coffee table, already bored. He had never had a long attention span- it was a miracle he’d gotten through school.
His parents constantly pushing him to do better had helped. He spent so much time on his work that he really hadn’t been able to make friends. Honestly, Clara was sort of all he had right now.
Her phone buzzed, rattling around on the table. Bill instinctively glanced towards it, then berated himself mentally as he looked away. However, something had caught his eye.
The phone had received a text, with the word ‘dumped’.
Panicked, he grabbed the phone and looked at the notification.
[Caterina: Soooo…have you dumped him yet?]
Bill’s world froze. He had no idea how to- she wouldn’t- why-
He heard the toilet flush.
He jumped up and ran out of her apartment, tears already streaming down his face.
His apartment was in the same complex, but there was no way he was going there. She’d find him, he’d have to explain why he ran, and he was a terrible liar. It would come out that he’d seen the text, and with the proverbial band-aid ripped off it would all be over.
And he’d be alone.
So he fled the building.
He started running faster. He didn’t know where, or have any idea what it would accomplish, but he ran all the same- dashing down the city sidewalk, past busy restaurants and small shops.
A crack echoed from the heavens above. Rain began to pour down from the grey skies, and Bill realized he needed to take shelter.
He frantically looked around and saw a pawn shop, cheap neon lights making it stand out from the strip mall. Bill quickly threw open the door and dashed inside, just as the storm really began.
The two or three other customers turned to look at him. He waved awkwardly, trying to look like he hadn’t just been bawling his eyes out.
Bill casually walked towards the back of the store, pretending to browse. All the while his mind kept wrestling with what had happened.
“I mean, sure, things aren’t always perfect. We’re going through a rough patch, what couple doesn’t?” he muttered.
He kicked a small cardboard box, knocking it over. To his horror, a skeletal arm tumbled out and hit the floor with a loud CLANG!
Bill nearly screamed, but noticed the arm’s shininess. He realized it was a robotic arm- though the mistake was understandable. It had an appearance like a real skeleton arm. There were dozens of points of articulation, and it looked strong but nimble.
Briefly distracted from his sadness, Bill righted the package to see what else was inside.
The box itself was plain with no markings, except for something written on the side in sharpie.
“Aft. Rob.?” Bill mused. “Is that short for something?”
He sifted through the box. There were a lot of parts in addition to the arm. A large blue mechanical eye winked in the light. A fake microphone was firmly held in the grip of a disembodied white hand. Bill nearly scratched himself on the pointy end of a rusted crank.
Most interesting of all was the ring. It stuck out among these robotic scraps, and yet there it was: a band of silver with intricate designs carved into its gleaming surface.
It was stored in a small baggie, along with a note: With this, she’ll never leave.
“She’ll never leave…” Bill thought aloud. “Man, this guy sounds desperate.”
Bill suddenly remembered he was desperate.
Would this do anything? The ring was nice and all, but would it really convince Clara to keep dating him? Seemed she’d been planning this breakup for a while.
Well…
He had nothing left to lose.
Except thirty dollars. (Arm included, because it was cool.)
Clara got off the elevator at Bill’s floor. She had no idea where he’d gone, but here was a good place to start.
Sure enough, she could see light through the doorway crack. She knocked. “Bill, you in there?”
No answer. She shook her head in annoyance, only to see the baggie on the floor. Bill had attached a note saying he had forgotten he had something important to do and left, but that he had meant to give her this ring. He’d come over to finish the movie tomorrow. The note was signed with a heart. She sighed, and walked back to the elevator..
A minute later she was back in her apartment. She sat on her bed and more closely observed the ring.
It was pretty nice. Maybe she could buy it from him or something? She wasn’t exactly sure what the etiquette was for accepting a present from someone you’re breaking up with.
“Well, might as well try it on.” Clara reasoned.
She slipped the band on and rotated her wrist. Looked good, but it was sort of tight around her finger. It’d probably get painful if she wore it for long.
Oh well. She hadn’t really been going to keep it.
Clara yawned, exhausted. Strange: a second ago she’d felt wide awake. But it had been a long day.
She dropped her head onto her pillow, and began to lose consciousness. Half awake as she was, she had the thought to remove the ring so her finger didn’t get sore. But she gave into sleep before she could do it.
And so it began its work.
Bill’s peaceful rest was shattered by the screeching alarm. He looked at the clock- 8:00 AM. He had to start his college day in an hour. He groaned, then wandered into the kitchen to get something to eat. Bill grabbed a box of Faz-Flakes from the pantry, and poured them into a bowl. The cheery cartoon bear grinned at him, like it was laughing at his lackluster love life.
Bill put his head in his hands. “Ugh, what was I thinking? Like a dumb ring is gonna make her change her mind.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Bill pushed himself up from the small table and trudged over. He opened the door and said, “Alright, what do you wan-”
Clara smiled back at him.
“Oh- uh, hey, Clara!” He tried to casually de-bed head his hair and wipe the drool off his chin. “Uh, what’s up?
“Hey, Bill!” Clara chirped. “I wanted to thank you for this ring. It’s beautiful, just like you!” She pecked him on the cheek.
Bill stumbled backwards, surprised.
“You OK?” she asked
“Well what do you know…” he said to himself. Then he responded, “Actually, I’m better than I’ve been in a long time!”
Blah, blah, blah, hydraulics, Bill couldn’t care less about what the professor was saying. Sure, this lecture was kind of important for the final, but who could blame him for being distracted? Clara wanted to stay with him! Not only that, but she seemed more enthusiastic about their relationship than she’d been in months!
The bell struck two, and Bill scooped up his backpack and left the lecture hall. With his engineering lecture done, his day was over.
Clara stood there outside the hall. “Bill! Come on, we should go get some coffee from Cool Beans.”
“Great idea!” Bill said, then paused. “Wait, don’t you have a Finance lecture soon?”
“Well, yeah, but I can afford to miss one class, right? We haven’t spent enough time together recently.”
“Uh- I guess. It’s just not like you to skip for something like this.”
“Well, people change.”
“Hmm…well, if you’re fine with it.”
Clara grabbed Bill’s hand, and the couple walked across the campus green.
Not too long after the pair were back at Clara’s apartment, talking about their respective days. Actually, no: Bill was. Whenever he tried to shift the conversation to her, she would divert it back to him.
This wasn’t like Clara. Back when things had been better, she’d always make sure she got her fair share of the discussion. Bill shook his head. Why had he thought it that way? Things were better now.
But they weren’t. Something was wrong. It wasn’t just the way Clara was acting. She looked different in ways that Bill couldn’t describe if he was asked. Her voice sounded barely off, like it had been copied and pasted from recordings of her beforehand.
“Clara…what is going on?” Bill asked hesitantly, as if questioning it would break whatever charm that had kept her from leaving. “You’ve been acting strange today- not like yourself.”
Clara gave him a vacant smile. “Oh, Bill, you’re being silly! She’s fine!”
Bill stared at her. “Wait- why did you say ‘she’?”
Clara laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And froze. She instantly became completely still. Her eyes were still on him, but Bill felt like she was looking at something else in the distance.
She left whatever stupor she had been in and grabbed the remote. “Want to finish the movie?” she asked cheerfully.
Bill stood up from the couch and backed away, panicking. “No, you- are you not her?!” He swiped an umbrella that had been leaning against the wall and waved it threateningly. “Who are you and what did you do with Clara?”
Not-Clara arched her eyebrow. “Well, guess I couldn’t have kept this up forever.” She stood up too, and started to advance towards Bill, hands up in a hold-on gesture. “Like I said, Clara is fine. Better than fine, actually. She’s hanging out with you- her beloved boyfriend!”
Bill shook his head, angry and scared. “What do you mean? You’re here, not her. You probably tied her up in the closet or something. Tell me now!”
Not-Clara grinned. “Well, better to show than tell.”
And her face broke.
Well, not quite. Lines formed across her face, and it split into four pieces- horrifying, but an intentional design.
The pieces remained attached to her face, hanging on little hinges like the arms of folding reading glasses.
And behind this false face sat a more familiar and authentic one- Clara’s.
She looked awful. She was stained with tears, sweat, drool, and some spilled coffee. She had a few small scratches on her cheeks, which were covered with dried blood.
And her eyes were shut.
Bill screamed. “You- you killed her!” He swung his umbrella at the thing’s face. The faceplates sealed back up leaving no visible seam. The attack hit the fake Clara.
The umbrella’s handle broke, the end falling to the floor with a THUNK!
Not-Clara shook her head, amused. “Bill, I would never! She’s alive.”
The faceplates reopened. A small mechanical tendril wormed around Clara’s face and poked her in the eye.
Clara opened it and lazily tried to swat away the annoyance. When she couldn’t, she looked down to see she was still imprisoned.
“Oh no.. it wasn’t a dream..” Clara mumbled, panicked. Her eyes fell upon Bill and widened. “Bill, help! This thing-”
The faceplates slammed shut yet again. Not-Clara gave him a smug smile. “Told you so!”
Bill was shocked. What was this thing? It was like some kind of incredibly thin shell, or carapace- or Clarapace.
Bill sighed mentally. His dumb brain was going to call it that now, wasn’t it?
That metal tendril, though…it had looked familiar. Like it was made of the same metal from…
“The ring!” he gasped.
“Well, of course!” The Clarapace said. “She put it on, so she’s mine now- and, more importantly, your’s.”
“Let her go, you monster!” Bill yelled.
The Clarapace smirked. “Why would you want that, Bill? So she can leave you? You’re a nice guy. You deserve her!”
It held out its hand. “This is what the ring was made for! She’s forgotten how much she loves you, so I’ll make sure she doesn’t go running off.”
Bill’s mind raced. This was horrifying; he had to do something… but was the thing wrong? He loved her, and after the lonely life he’d had hadn’t he earned this?
“I don’t think- I mean this just doesn’t feel right…” Bill stammered.
A frown formed on the Clarapace’s face.
“Alright. I see how it is.” It snarled.
A whirring noise erupted from its ring finger. Something with the ring clicked, and a seam formed down the middle, turning one ring into two.
It slid the new ring off. “You crazy kids belong together. But if you’re not willing to do what needs to be done, then I will!”
And the Clarapace charged.
With a burst of adrenaline, Bill dove out of her way. She screeched to a stop, whipped around and gave a twisted grin.
“Come on, honey, just put on the ring and relax. This beautiful relationship will be in good hands.”
Bill- ok, Bill screamed. Yeah, he was an adult, but he was also being told by an indestructible robotic exoskeleton about how it was going to replace him and date itself(?), so he figured it was justified.
He grabbed a lamp and smashed it against the Clarapace’s head. It shattered into pieces without leaving a scratch, but it did distract her. He dashed for the hall, hoping to lock himself in the bathroom.
Suddenly, he stumbled and fell, landing on his stomach and forcing the wind out of him. He looked back to see he had tripped a metal tentacle- one of dozens pouring out of cracks in the thing’s body. It handed the ring off to one, which flew straight for his hand.
Bill frantically rolled out of the way. It barely missed him. He desperately pushed himself up and ran into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him and locked it.
Bill slumped against the door and slid down, beginning to cry. He had to figure out a way to destroy the Clarapace…but it had also been right. If there had been any hope he could convince her to stay, it was gone now. She’d probably think he did it on purpose and never speak to him again.
And he’d be alone.
Tendrils began slipping through the cracks in the door, grabbing at his jacket.
Didn’t he deserve this? A life with the girl he loved?
All he’d ever wanted was a loving relationship.
Then he realized what he needed to do.
In a flash, Bill stood up again. He knocked on the door. “Hey, you were right. I do deserve to be with Clara- with you. Put the tentacles away and you can come in.”
A girlish squeal of joy sounded from the door’s other side. The wiry tendrils receded.
Bill turned the lock open.
The Clarapace walked through the door. It had a beautiful smile on its face and a spark in its eyes.
Bill smiled back.
They clasped each other’s hands.
The Clarapace leaned into him, resting its head on his shoulder. “I love you.” It crooned.
“But she doesn’t.” Bill responded. “So this isn’t a loving relationship.”
The thing’s eyes opened and flashed purple. “Wait, what are you-”
Bill tore the ring off the Clarapace’s hand.
It was easier than expected, given the fact that this ring was essentially some kind of sci-fi human powered exoskeleton generator, but it appeared that it hadn’t been as embedded within the Clarapace as he’d worried. A few wires pulled loose, but that was it.
The thing screamed. Instantly its skin began to turn grey and cracked, like the chocolate coating on an ice cream drumstick. It tried to grab at him with its tendrils, but they too began to decay.
The strange shell began to fall apart, exposing the real Clara within. The pieces fell to the ground, and dissolved into steam, as if air was now corrosive to it.
Its eyes flared with pure rage, but they too disintegrated into nothingness.
Within moments, there was nothing left: only the ring in Bill’s hand, and Clara, left kneeling in shock.
Bill stared at the ring, then tossed it on the ground and stomped on it. He lifted his foot to see it broken. He scooped up the pieces and flushed them down the toilet.
Bill cheered. “I did it!”
Clara looked up at him with a furious expression on her face.
Bill stopped celebrating. “Um- I didn’t know- I mean, the ring-” He stammered.
“GET OUT!” She yelled.
Bill ran out. “SORRY!” he called out as he ran into the building hall.
A few hours passed. Bill spent most of them lying on the floor of his room, half shell-shocked from the battle that had transpired and half wondering what to do next. He knew he’d done the right thing, and he wasn’t exactly regretting it, but he just didn’t know where to go from here.
His phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket to see he had gotten a text.
[Clara: Let’s talk.]
He sighed, and began making his way to her apartment.
Clara had physically recovered from the ordeal. She’d changed out of the clothes she’d been wearing, taken a shower and seemed to have taken a nap.
When she answered the door, she wordlessly gestured Bill in.
He sat down, and she followed.
After a moment of awkward silence, Bill tried to explain. “I’m still really sorry, Clara, but I didn’t know what the ring would do. I thought it was normal, not- well, whatever it was.”
“I could tell it wasn’t intentional.” Clara affirmed. “The look on your face when you saw it open up told me that much.” She giggled a little, then turned serious again. “It’s just- when it started talking to you about holding me- keeping me- it seemed like you were considering it”
A tear ran down her face. “I was scared. I thought I would be stuck forever. You can’t just expect me to ignore that.”
Bill put his head in his hands. He’d been an idiot for giving the Clarapace’s offer a moment of consideration.
“I saw Caterina’s text.” Bill blurted.
Clara turned to look at him in surprise.
“When you went to the bathroom yesterday. It just popped up on your phone and I saw it. It said you were going to…” The sentence drifted off.
“That’s why I ran. It’s how I found the ring. I thought maybe if I got you a present- there was a note that-”
Clara looked at him sadly. “Oh, geez. Bill, I didn’t want you to find out like that. I’m sorry.”
There was silence for a moment.
“So did you really think a ring would-”
“I was desperate, shut up!” Bill retorted, chuckling a bit at his stupidity.
Clara laughed.
Bill leaned back into the couch. “This doesn’t change things, does it?”
Clara gave a sad smile. “No. I’m sorry, Bill, but I don’t think we’d ever work out together, especially in the long term.”
Bill stared at the ceiling. “Can we- can we still be friends?”
Clara punched him gently in the shoulder. “Wha- of course, you dummy! I still love you, just not like that.”
She wrapped her arms around him. Bill collapsed into her hug. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“Don’t mention it. We still have some stuff to talk about, but first, you want to finish the movie?”
“I’d love to! It was just getting good!”
The friends sat down, and laughed at the dumb action movie.
And they were together.
Trace Thompson's Guide To Monsters 